Wimbledon supplier Severfield beats Tata's steel woes

STEELWORK firm Severfield today boasted its biggest order book for six years, shrugging off a year of turmoil for Tata Steel.

The company — whose £270 million of UK work includes Wimbledon’s No 1 Court’s roof, Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium and Goldman Sachs’s Farringdon headquarters — was forced to look elsewhere after Tata mothballed its two plate steel mills in Scotland last year.

The mills have been bought by steel products firm Liberty House. “Hopefully we’ll be buying from them again soon,” Severfield chief executive Ian Lawson said.

Tata’s steel sections business was bought by Greybull Capital, and renamed British Steel, removing another doubt for Severfield.

The company stressed only around 40% of steel used in UK construction is made in the UK although a Tata closure would have pushed up prices.

Pre-tax profits rose 59% to £13.2 million in the year to March 31.