The steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta is to seek court approval for a restructuring of the bulk of its remaining operations in Britain.

Sky News has learnt that Liberty Steel, Mr Gupta’s privately owned company, is on Monday launching a restructuring plan for its Speciality Steel division in the UK (SSUK) that would significantly reduce its debts.

Begbies Traynor, the insolvency practitioner, has been appointed to oversee the restructuring plan, which will be implemented under Part 26A of the 2006 Companies Act.

People close to the process said there would be no impact on the 1,500 employees of the Speciality Steel business in the UK.

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Liberty Steel creditors would be compromised under the plan, which will require the approval of 75% of them in order to be approved by the court.

One source said the move was likely to prove controversial following a series of restructuring and cost-cutting measures from Mr Gupta’s empire in recent years.

In 2021, he sought £170m from the government in emergency assistance, but the request was rejected.

In a statement issued in response to an enquiry from Sky News, Jeffrey Kabel, Liberty Steel group chief transformation officer, said: “After making significant progress to stabilise the business and refocus it on high value specialist products, we’re now addressing the debt position of the company to create a stronger speciality business going forward.

“Our plan, which is backed by customers, is the best route forward for all stakeholders and we’re confident in winning the support of our creditors for the essential actions required to complete SSUK’s recovery.”

A person close to the company said the delivery of the restructuring plan would enable the company to attract new financing and expand into faster-growing areas of the industry.

The SSUK division operates across sites including at Rotherham in south Yorkshire and Bolton in Lancashire.

It makes highly engineered steel products for use in sectors such as aerospace, automotive and oil and gas.

Mr Gupta’s efforts to turn around the business are said by allies to have been hampered by its deep relationship with Greensill Capital, the controversial financial group which collapsed in 2021.

In a separate statement provided to Sky News, Alasdair McDiarmid, assistant general secretary of the trade union Community, said: “We acknowledge Liberty’s plan to reduce debts and welcome the company’s commitment there will be no impact on employees.

“Liberty’s Speciality Steel businesses are strategically important for our country and their long-term future must be secured.

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“As well as supporting thousands of highly skilled well-paid jobs, they produce world leading green steels for Britain’s defence, aerospace and energy industries.

“All stakeholders must play their part to protect jobs and safeguard these priceless national assets.”

The restructuring of SSUK comes as Chinese-owned British Steel continues to discuss a potential aid package with the government.

Whitehall sources described a suggestion that the company could receive as much as £2bn from a government fund as “completely inaccurate”.

Tata Steel, the industry’s biggest player, has agreed a deal to receive £500m from the taxpayer in order to electrify steel production at its Port Talbot plant.

As part of that deal, though, thousands of steelworkers are being made redundant.

Direct Line has revealed a cost-cutting plan that is expected to lead to 550 job losses.

The insurer, whose brands also include Churchill and Privilege, said alongside its third quarter results that a “series of initiatives” aimed to deliver an additional £50m of cost savings next year.

They included the planned reduction in roles, which equated to around 5% of its total workforce of around 10,000 staff.

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Direct Line’s motor insurance division has been struggling in a tough market.

While aggressive price hikes have helped the firm mitigate the effect of rising claim costs, they have also turned customers away to cheaper rivals. Most of them are online operators with lower cost bases.

Total gross written premium and associated fees reached £835.9m over the three months to the end of September.

That was down from the £1.3bn seen in the same period last year.

On a year to date basis, the figure was almost 3% up.

The UK-focused insurer has been attempting to reinvigorate its business under a turnaround strategy launched by chief executive Adam Winslow.

“We are in the early stages of a significant turnaround and our Q3 trading is not yet fully reflective of the actions we have taken,” he told investors.

He said the additional cost savings would be delivered through improvements in procurement, technology and a simplified operating model.

Direct Line fended off a £3.17bn takeover attempt by Belgian rival Ageas earlier in the year.

Shares, which are 8% down in the year to date, opened in positive territory.

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They were 0.6% higher in early deals.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said of the update: “Another 71,000 own-brand motor customers were lost over the third quarter as premiums were 3% higher than last year on average.

“The good news is that the rate of decline in customer numbers is slowing, as insurance prices are now starting to come down after some mammoth hikes were put through earlier in the year.”

The UK could be spared the impact of Donald Trump’s proposed trade tariff increases on foreign imports, a US governor has told Sky News.

In the aftermath of the Republican candidate’s decisive election win over Kamala Harris this week, attention is turning to what the former president will do on his return to the White House.

Mr Trump has said he wants to raise tariffs – taxes on imported products – on goods from around the world by 10%, rising to 60% on goods from China, as part of his plan to protect US industries.

But there are fears in foreign capitals about what this could do to their economies. Goldman Sachs has downgraded its forecast for the UK’s economic growth next year from 1.6% to 1.4%, while EU officials are anticipating a reduction in exports to the US of €150bn (£125bn).

However, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy – a Democrat – says he believes Mr Trump may consider not including the UK in the tariff plans.

Speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the governor said he cannot speak for the president-elect but he has a “good relationship” with him.

His gut feeling is that Mr Trump will not impose tariffs on goods from allies like the UK. “But if I’m China, I’m fastening my seatbelt right now,” he said.

Mr Murphy said that Mr Trump may look favourably at the UK after its departure from the European Union.

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The president-elect is considering offering the UK a special deal that would exempt British exports from billions of pounds of tariffs, according to The Telegraph.

“Donald Trump (has) some sympathy with the renegade who has courage,” Mr Murphy continued. “I think there’s some of that. I think that’s a card that can be played. We’ll see.”

Asked about whether UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer can build a rapport with the incoming president, Mr Murphy said: “I’ve been able to find common ground with President Trump, and I’m a proud progressive, although I’m a cold-blooded capitalist, which is probably the part of me that President Trump resonates with.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she is “confident” trade flows with the United States will continue despite the tariff proposal.

Will Brexit help UK in Trump trade talks?

Jon Craig

Chief political correspondent

@joncraig

Could Brexit help Sir Keir Starmer and the UK government in trade negotiations with President Trump – who calls himself “tariff man” – and the US?

The suggestion – ironic, given the PM’s hostility to Brexit and his pledge for a “reset” with the EU – has been made by a Trump ally and confidant, albeit a leading Democrat.

The claim comes from Phil Murphy, governor of New Jersey, in an interview for Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News.

Murphy says he has a good relationship with Trump, who has a palatial home he calls the Summer White House, a 500-acre estate and a golf club at Bedminster, New Jersey, just 45 minutes from Trump Tower in New York.

He says his “gut feeling” is that Trump has sympathy with the UK for having the courage to pull out of the EU, “this big bureaucratic blob” and “that’s a card that can be played” by the UK in trade talks.

Really? As Trevor politely pointed out, that might benefit the UK if the prime minister was Nigel Farage rather than Sir Keir.

Mr Farage, however, speaking at a Reform UK regional conference in Exeter, described Trump as a “pro-British American president” who’d give the UK “potentially huge opportunities”.

But there’s one problem, according to the Reform UK leader. Favours from Trump will only come, he claims, “if we can overcome the difficulties that the whole of the cabinet have been rude about him”.

You can watch the full interview with Governor Phil Murphy as well as other guests on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am.