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Reynolds signals move to private sector investment in British Steel

29 Jul 2026 2 minute read

A steel worker at one of the blast furnaces at the British Steel site in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. Photo Darren Staples/PA Wire

Rhiannon James, Press Association Parliamentary Editor

Jonathan Reynolds has signalled a move towards private investment in British Steel, but said a degree of public control could be maintained.

The new Business Secretary told the Financial Times it has “always been about bringing in a private-sector partner”, whilst suggesting the Government could have a golden share arrangement.

British Steel was nationalised earlier this month, under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, in a bid to protect the UK’s steelmaking capability and supply chains.

Mr Reynolds suggested to the FT that Andy Burnham does not intend to keep British Steel in state ownership for the long-term.

He also said the Government recognises it needs to attract “quite a lot of capital” to the water industry “to give it the kind of resilience and the results that people want”.

This comes after the Prime Minister suggested he wants to bring in a 10-year plan to renationalise the water sector, saying reform is needed to put the public interest first.

Mr Reynolds said the UK “will always be a safe place to do business” in an apparent bid to reassure investors.

He added: “Unless the UK economy grows more strongly, no government department is going to be able to satisfy its desires”.

Mr Reynolds criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s Government, in which he served as business secretary and most-recently chief whip, for not making growth a “sufficient priority”.

He pledged to be “much more assertive” in encouraging other Whitehall departments to pursue economic growth, according to the FT.

The Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Act 2026 allows ministers to transfer steel businesses’ shares or property into public ownership.

British Steel was previously owned by the Chinese company Jingye, which planned to close its Scunthorpe blast furnaces in North Lincolnshire.

However, Parliament was recalled on a Saturday in April last year to approve special measures legislation to keep the plant open.

Under the former Greater Manchester mayor, Mr Reynolds is heading up a new department known as the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, which he said will bolster tech companies.

It takes in the recently scrapped Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

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