SteelScout was the digital arm of TATA Steel, and was launched in 2017.
With a big budget and a team of Developers and Steel Specialists, the goals and ambitions were clear. What was not clear, though, was how the market would react to this disruptive player in the UK metal sector.
Shortly after recording a podcast with SteelScout in 2021 (S01E07), the business was suddenly closed.
In this episode, Karl Evans rejoined us to talk about the reasons why TATA Steel pulled the plug on the business.
Amongst other things we talk about:
- What was SteelScout
- What were the initial plans
- What did suppliers think about SteelScout, and how did you overcome their objections
- What were the big wins and losses during the 2020 CoVID pandemic
- Did SteelScout meet its goals and when did you think you could return an ROI
- What were the longer term plans, and were you on track
- How did you onboard clients who had never used a digital platform to buy metal
- Creating a digital platform but keeping people within the buying process
- Why was the business ultimately closed
- What does the future look like for digital steel platforms
- Why SteelScout didn’t diversify the range of products earlier