UK longs specialist British Steel has announced that it is to streamline its global operations to ensure the long-term growth of the business.

This includes a proposed reduction of 400 managerial, professional and administrative roles at its operations throughout the UK, Ireland, France and the Netherlands, the company tells Kallanish. Other steps include continuing to improve manufacturing performance and increasing turnover through strong sales. The steelmaker employs 5,000 people across the globe.

The company remains committed to making significant investments in its core products of rail, wire rod, construction and special profiles, along with its iron and steel-making operations.

No closures are being considered as part of the process, British Steel adds. The company has set no deadline for the redundancies but is aiming “… to keep the period of uncertainty for our people as short as we can,” it says in a statement.

British Steel says that it has made a strong start to life as British Steel but that its “… external environment is constantly changing. For example, raw materials are all traded in US dollars, so the weakening of the pound and euro have implications for us. Like any business we need to be able to flex and adapt to these changes.”

“Following our launch and early growth as a new company, it’s important our business continues to evolve. It’s imperative we enhance our products and services and become more competitive so we can increase our foothold in the market, says executive chairman Roland Junck.

“We’ve already committed £120 million ($157m) to capital expenditure projects and are pressing ahead with the £50 million upgrade to our Scunthorpe Rod Mill, which we announced in July. However, the pace of change we need in this challenging industry requires further and continued investment along with more agile and efficient operations.”

“To help us achieve this, we have to make difficult decisions and our plans unfortunately include the proposed reduction of 400 roles across our global workforce,” the chairman adds.