UK steel stockholder goes into administration

A West Midlands, UK steel stockist has entered administration, it has announced. Meridian Metal Trading is now being managed by administrators it confirms in a message on its website.

The company, headquartered in Dudley, employs over 160 people in five locations across the UK. These include steel service centres in Dudley, Sheffield and Guildford, and regional offices in Bolton and Newport in South Wales.

It is continuing to operate and is now being managed by joint administrators from Duff and Phelps who were appointed on 2 April.   

The company supplies hot rolled coil, hot dipped galvanized, cold reduced low carbon steel and electro-plated steel strip. It offers slitting, sheet and plate decoiling, blanking and shearing services.

Meridian offers no further information on the administration. Local media reports monitored by Kallanish suggest that the company had been in talks with its five main suppliers, credit insurers and Secure Trust Bank for months after a potential sale fell through. Meridian has also been having to pre-pay for steel, the reports say.