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Unions are seeking urgent talks with British Steel after its auditors warned it may not be able to continue operations.
The Chinese-owned company has not met senior union officials since November, when it proposed cutting jobs and replacing its blast furnaces with greener electric steelmaking facilities, the Mail on Sunday understands.
Around 2,000 of the 4,500 jobs are at risk under the plans and the company says it will need hundreds of millions of pounds in Government funding to make the change.
The unions hope to meet senior British Steel officials in early April. The Scunthorpe-based company has three unions: Community, Unite and GMB. It is not yet clear who would attend.
British Steel’s financial accounts for 2021, which were published a year late, are understood to have raised major concerns. Auditors Moore Kingston Smith said in January there was material uncertainty about the company’s ability to continue operating without a cash injection from Chinese owner Jingye.
Staring into the abyss: British Steel has proposed cutting jobs and replacing its blast furnaces with greener electric steel production facilities.
Moore Kingston Smith resigned as auditor and said he could not confirm the existence of £46m of shares.
An industry source said: ‘British Steel needs to get its act together. There are thousands of jobs and millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money at stake and they are playing the fool.
Directors said they were “confident” British Steel would have enough funding to last at least 12 months. But auditors noted the absence of “legally binding” agreements to provide more cash.
British Steel is yet to release more up-to-date figures, leaving workers in the dark about the state of its finances. A spokesperson said its 2022 accounts would be published “in due course”.