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Economic Development

Who is Sanjeev Gupta? The empire of the businessman once dubbed the 'Man of Steel' is under threat

From being chucked out his hall of residence to swooping in and saving factories on the brink of closure the Indian-born businessman is one of the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ's most enigmatic characters in the steel industry

Sanjeev Gupta(Image: PA)

He started off running the family commodity trading business and is now a global steel magnet, but who is Sanjeev Gupta?

The 49-year-old businessman was born in Punjab, India, where his father was an industrialist who owned a number of businesses including Victor Cycles.

At 12 he was sent to a boarding school at Canterbury, Kent, spending a gap year selling Victor bicycles in Turkey after A-levels.

Then he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, to study economics and management. While at university he set up a commodities trading business called Liberty House, using his student halls of residence flat as his office.

This got him into trouble with the university authorities when he used the address for a VAT claim, breaching the university's charitable status. He was hauled up in front a panel of dons who told him he had to leave the residences.

But he continued to run the business from his new digs and went on to graduate with a 2:1.

Since 1992 Mr Gupta has grown GFG Alliance into a fully integrated steel and mining business with a global presence in 12 countries, employing more than 35,000 people. GFC Alliance is a an international group of businesses that includes Liberty House Group, Simec Group, Wyelands financial services, and Jahama Estates.

Liberty Steel employs around 3,000 workers at 11 sites across the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ.