A (Grey)bull in a china shop

摘要

The collapse of British Steel (see p22) is a sucker-punch, not just for the workers, their families and the town of Scunthorpe, but for the whole of the industry. Something must have gone seriously wrong for the UK's second-biggest steel producer to go bust almost overnight. Now that the dust has started to settle, fingers of blame are being pointed. The government has to take some of the flak, after its last-minute million-pound rescue deal amounted to nothing. The main culprit, however, must be British Steel's shadowy owner, Greybull Capital. On top of this latest debacle, Greybull has also overseen the decline of - amongst others - electrical retailer Comet, Monarch airlines, Morrison's 'My Local' brand of convenience stores and Riley's snooker halls. At what point is its suitability to take over companies going to be questioned?