7 Steel UK has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Heathrow, extending a steel supply relationship that has spanned more than 20 years. The agreement positions the Cardiff-based producer to support Heathrow’s proposed expansion plans, including a possible third runway. More than 150,000 tonnes of steel have already been supplied for Heathrow projects, including Terminal 5. Government estimates indicate the wider expansion project could require up to 400,000 tonnes of steel during construction, creating a substantial potential market for UK-made material.
A Longstanding Supply Relationship
The agreement builds on a record of supply between the two organisations that began more than two decades ago. Heathrow’s previous use of 7 Steel UK products includes the construction of Terminal 5, one of the airport’s largest development projects.
Heathrow signed the UK Steel Charter in 2025, pledging to prioritise UK-made steel. The new Memorandum of Understanding gives that commitment a practical route into the airport’s future construction plans, should expansion receive approval.
The scale of the proposed programme would make it a major opportunity for domestic manufacturing. Steel demand from airport construction could support producers, recyclers, fabricators and associated supply chain businesses across the UK.
Circular Steel From Cardiff
7 Steel UK operates from Cardiff and uses the UK’s only electric arc furnace to make new products from recycled scrap steel. The business describes its output as low-carbon, circular steel, made from 100% UK scrap.
Its wider operations include recycling and downstream fabrication. According to the company, its four recycling facilities can process up to 1.5 million tonnes of scrap steel each year, while its steel production capacity reaches up to 1.2 million tonnes annually.
This integrated model gives the company a direct connection between scrap recovery, steelmaking and fabrication. For major infrastructure customers, that structure can support traceability and security of supply within a domestic production chain.
Carles Rovira, CEO at 7 Steel UK, said:
“This agreement with Heathrow is a landmark moment for UK steelmaking and a powerful vote of confidence in the future of our industry. Heathrow’s commitment to using UK-made steel demonstrates how major infrastructure projects can support the UK steel industry, domestic manufacturing, sustain highly skilled jobs and strengthen supply chains across the country.
“From our Cardiff base, we at 7 Steel are proud to be the UK’s leading producer of low-carbon, circular steel from 100% UK scrap and to have supported Heathrow’s development for more than twenty years, including the construction of Terminal 5. This new partnership creates a strong foundation for future investment, supporting the work that the 7 Steel UK team and the rest of the stakeholders are doing every day.
“Expansion at Heathrow has the potential to be a catalyst for growth far beyond the airport itself. By placing UK steel at the heart of this nationally significant project, Heathrow is helping to demonstrate that reindustrialisation can be delivered through practical partnerships that create jobs, drive economic growth and support the transition to a more sustainable economy.”
Infrastructure And Industrial Demand
The agreement arrives as the Government’s Steel Strategy sets out ambitions to revive the UK steel sector, increase the proportion of domestic demand met by UK production and support lower-carbon steelmaking. Large construction programmes can play an important part in those ambitions by creating clear demand for UK manufacturers.
7 Steel UK has supplied material to other major national projects, including The Shard, Wembley Stadium, Hinkley Point C and HS2. Heathrow expansion would add another long-term infrastructure programme to that project record.
The proposed project also places attention on South Wales, where steelmaking remains a major industrial employer. The company employs around 1,600 people and its Cardiff facility provides a base for a domestic steel supply chain serving construction and infrastructure customers.
Thomas Woldbye, CEO at Heathrow, said:
“Expanding Heathrow would deliver real opportunities for people across the whole of the UK. This MoU is one such example. If expansion is approved, the MoU we have signed can help revitalise UK steelmaking and drive economic growth in South Wales. Our ambition to put Welsh-made steel at the heart of our expansion plans will create a pipeline of future orders for UK steel, and we hope that the scale of our project will lead the way for other large infrastructure projects to follow suit. We’re proud to be strengthening our relationship with 7 Steel UK, with businesses across South Wales and to be helping to drive a new era of industrial growth.”
A Foundation For Future Development
The Memorandum of Understanding does not commit Heathrow to a specific volume of steel, and its potential depends on approval for expansion. It does, however, establish a framework for 7 Steel UK and Heathrow to build on their existing relationship as plans develop.
For 7 Steel UK, the agreement brings its circular steelmaking model into discussion around one of the UK’s largest proposed infrastructure programmes. For Heathrow, it links expansion ambitions with its commitment to prioritising UK-made steel and supporting domestic manufacturing.
The partnership offers a clear example of how infrastructure procurement can connect construction requirements with regional employment, recycled materials and UK industrial capacity. If Heathrow’s expansion proceeds, Welsh-made steel could again form part of the airport’s next major chapter.
