Jon Bolton, one of the most prominent figures in the British and international steel industry, has been appointed chief executive of the enlarged UK steel division of global metals and industrials group, Liberty House.

He had previously been Liberty’s director of UK steel development, with responsibility also for the group’s plates and speciality units, but, following major acquisitions by the Group over recent months, he has been given overall responsibility for the expanded and restructured steel business in the UK.

Liberty, part of the GFG Alliance, now has three steel operations in the UK – rolled products, speciality steels and pipes – each with its own chief executive.

In light of Jon’s new appointment, Peter Hogg, previously chief operations officer of Liberty Speciality Steels, will take on the role of chief executive for that division. VB Garg is chief executive of rolled products, while James Annal was recently appointed chief executive of the pipes division.

Jon Bolton has more than 30 years’ steel industry experience both in the UK and internationally, including senior positions with Tata Steel and its predecessors Corus and British Steel. He spent five years in the USA, where he led the construction and subsequent operation of a 2.2 million tonnes-a-year “mini mill” in Alabama and two years based in France while managing director of Corus Rail.

In addition to his company role, Jon is chair of the employers group, UK Steel, and jointly chairs the UK Steel Council along with the Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, advising government and providing strategic leadership to the sector.

In his new position, he will also lead the development of Liberty’s flagship GREENSTEEL strategy in the UK, which aims to deliver five million tonnes a year of sustainably-produced steel to the market by 2020.

Peter Hogg, is also a widely-experienced steel industry leader with a 25-year track record at senior management level globally. Prior to joining Liberty in Spring 2017, he had distinguished himself in a series of key positions with Tata Steel UK and its predecessor companies as well as with British Steel at Scunthorpe where he was instrumental in the turn around of that business. His responsibility includes the furnaces and mills at Rotherham and Stocksbridge, downstream processing at Wednesbury and service centres in Bolton and China.

As chief executive of Liberty Rolled Products, VB Garg is responsible for the Group’s operations in Newport, Tredegar, Dalzell, Clydebridge and Scunthorpe, while James Annal, leads the Pipes Division, centred on Hartlepool. Both men have long experience in the industry and have held leading roles internationally with ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel company.

Commenting on the new appointments, Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of the Liberty House Group and GFG Alliance said: “Following our expansion in the UK over the past two years, we are now able to serve the market with a full range of long and flat products and we are very pleased and encouraged to have such a talented and experienced management team to lead these excellent operations.”