British Steel is set to welcome 70 new apprentices and graduates next month, following more than 1,000 applications for the roles. The recruitment drive comes shortly after the company was taken into public ownership in July, with the government framing the intake as key to securing the long-term future of the business and one of the UK's foundation industries.

Of the new starters, 36 apprentices will be based at the Scunthorpe site, with a further 17 joining the northern mills in Teesside and Skinningrove and one at the research and development centre in Sheffield. The 16 graduates will take up posts across engineering, manufacturing, technical, commercial, finance and IT, marking the first new graduate intake since 2022 following a relaunch of the company's recruitment programme. British Steel also reopened its Scunthorpe apprentice training centre as part of the move, which follows the government's emergency intervention in April 2025 to prevent then-owner Jingye from closing two blast furnaces, and last month's passage of the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill.