Gupta foundation aims to encourage more skilled workers

A businessman whose family has a prominent presence in Scottish steel, aluminium and energy plants has unveiled the creation of a multi-million-pound foundation to foster a new generation of skilled workers, helping regenerate manufacturing communities in Britain.

Sanjeev Gupta, right, with his wife Nicola, who will chair the GFG Foundation, and chief operating officer Tim Smith. Picture: Contributed

Sanjeev Gupta revealed the GFG Foundation, which has been set up to mark the 25th anniversary of industrials and metals group Liberty House.

The firm said that, along with sister energy company SIMEC, it has invested more than £500 million in the past year to buy and revitalise metals and power assets across the UK, including steel plants at Dalzell and Clydebridge and a hydro power and aluminium facility at Fort William.

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The foundation, chaired by Gupta’s wife Nicola, will start projects and back existing schemes that boost the employment prospects of young people, especially those at risk of being “left behind”. The Gupta family will provide £1m seed finance for the foundation and then build a multi-million-pound fund via further contributions from its GFG Alliance operations and match-funded support from stakeholders, the corporate world and possibly the public sector.

Gupta, executive chairman of GFG Alliance, called the venture “a logical extension of our strategy to revive key industries in the UK, reflecting our core values, which are to add value to the communities where we operate”.

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