String of firms that failed under controversial owner Greybull Capital

British Steel has collapsed into liquidation, leaving thousands of staff facing redundancy, after owner Greybull Capital failed in its attempts to win financial support from the Government.

The downfall of British Steel has brought scrutiny on private equity giant Greybull, but is not the firm’s first encounter with controversy.

British Steel is the latest in a line of UK firms which have become insolvent under the ownership of the fund run by the wealthy Meyohas and Perlhagen families.

The airline left more than 80,000 tourists stranded after it went bust with debts of almost £500 million, at an estimated cost of £60 million to the taxpayer.

Greybull was also a leading backer in OpCapita’s acquisition of electrical retailer Comet in 2012 for £2.

A year later, the British retailer, which had 236 stores and employed 7,000 staff, collapsed into administration and closed all of its outlets after a restructuring programme failed to deliver profitability.

The chain was rebranded as My Local, but dived into administration in June 2016, resulting in the closure of 90 stores with more than 1,200 employees laid off.

Greybull also oversaw the collapse of sports bar and snooker hall brand Rileys, which it purchased through a pre-pack administration in 2012.

The fund shed around half of the group’s sites to drive profitability, but ultimately attempted to sell the company on in 2014.

After no buyer came forward to purchase the chain, it was placed into administration for a second time, before its 15 remaining sites were shut down by administrators Deloitte.