Major Liberty Steel customer goes into administration - report

A major customer of Liberty Steel has reportedly been forced to call in administrators.

According to Sky News, West Midlands-based Aartee Bright Bar, which employs 250 people, has this week drafted in Alvarez & Marsal to handle an insolvency process.

Aartee is a supplier of engineering steel products to Liberty Steel, which is part of the industrial conglomerate headed by Sanjeev Gupta.

Gupta is reported to have close ties to Ravi Trehan, Aartee's founder, while Greensill Capital, the controversial supply chain finance group which itself collapsed in 2021, is said to have financed a number of trades between the two.

Michael Magnay, joint administrator at A&M, said in a statement to Sky News: "Like many businesses in its sector, Aartree Bright Bar has been facing significant headwinds as a result of the challenging economic environment and fluctuating steel prices.

"Against this backdrop, Administrators have been appointed and we are exploring the options available to preserve value."

A steel industry source told Sky that Liberty Steel would be an obvious buyer of Aartee Bright Bar's assets out of administration.

A spokesman for Liberty Steel declined to comment to Sky.

Aartee, which also has offices in Lancashire and Wales, is a manufacturer, stockist and distributor of steel products.