A FORMAL bid by the management of Tata Steel’s UK operations to rescue the firm’s British plants from closure has been officially submitted.

The industry was thrown into turmoil at the end of March when the Indian conglomerate announced it would sell off its entire UK operation – including plants in Llanwern, Port Talbot and elsewhere – putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk.

In the weeks since the announcement two organisations have publicly said they are interested in taking on the plants – Liberty House, which already owns a steel plant in Newport, and Excalibur Steel UK, an organisation formed by the management team of the firm’s UK operation.

The deadline for expressions of interest in the plants closed today, and chief executive of Excalibur and former hub director at the Port Talbot plant Stuart Wilkie confirmed the organisation had submitted its bid.

"This project has made enormous advances in a very short period,” he said.

“It was only two weeks ago we made the decision to pursue a buyout that enables the management and staff to take a stake in the ownership and operation of a strategic British industry.

"We believe we have a large number of the pieces in place required to make this a success, including a management team with vast experience of steel making and processing.

“We are confident we can turn the business around and sustain profitable steel-making in the United Kingdom, including both the down-stream and up-stream operations."

A spokesman for Liberty House, which is owned by Monmouthshire businessman Sanjeev Gupta, said the company was putting together a formal letter of intent. 

In a statement, Liberty House said: "The bid is based on Liberty’s Greensteel business model and would involve a transition from steelmaking in blast furnaces to recycling steel in electric arc furnaces over time while ensuring the company continues to meet key customers' quality requirements. 

"Steelmaking would be ultimately powered by renewable energy sources. 

"Liberty believes the UK steel industry can achieve long-term viability if based on an agile, sustainable, non-cyclical model which integrates liquid steel-making from recycling with downstream production and the manufacture of advanced engineering products.  

In order to take the bid forward Liberty has appointed an internal project team and a panel of leading external advisers to work on this acquisition, dubbed "Project Greensteel Pluto". 

Meanwhile First Minister Carwyn Jones visited Port Talbot today and again threw his support behind Excalibur’s bid.

“We are open to any option that will provide a sustainable future for our industry in Wales,” he said.

The management buyout plan has won widespread support, with Plaid Cymru’s shadow finance minister Adam Price saying: “An employee and management buyout is the best hope to secure the steel industry’s future in the long term and deliver a stable future for the Port Talbot plant.

"I hope that all political parties will get behind this bid now as we fight for the future of this crucial core industry, and fight for Welsh jobs.”

And Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Kirsty Williams said: “The idea of a Britain that doesn’t produce its own steel is unthinkable.

“That is why it is right that both governments do all they can to support this industry.”

Meanwhile the Welsh Conservatives have backed Liberty’s bid.

A spokesman said the bid “Shows confidence that our steel industry has a profitable future in the global market.

“This will no doubt offer a degree of comfort to the thousands of hardworking families across Wales and England.”

The UK Government has pledged to support any buyer of the business by buying up to a quarter stake and making hundreds of millions of pounds of finance available.

Tata has not publicly set a deadline for any deal to be finalised but has made it clear it cannot sustain the £1m-a-day losses indefinitely.