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British Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated from the
nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
British Steel Corporation (BSC), formed in 1967, which was privatised as a public limited company, British Steel plc, in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company merged with
Koninklijke Hoogovens Koninklijke Hoogovens known as Koninklijke Nederlandse Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken (KNHS) until 1996 or informally Hoogovens. was a Dutch steel producer founded in 1918. Since 2010, the plant is named Tata Steel IJmuiden. The IJmuiden steelwor ...
to form
Corus Group Corus may refer to: Places *Çörüş, Gazipaşa, a village in Antalya Province, Turkey Facilities and structures * Corus Quay, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; an office tower Fictional locations * Corus, a fictional world that is the setting for the ...
in 1999.


History

Alasdair M. Blair (1997), Professor of International Relations and Head of the Department of Politics and Public Policy at De Montfort University, has explored the history of British Steel since the Second World War to evaluate the impact of government intervention in a market economy. He suggests that entrepreneurship was lacking in the 1940s; the government could not persuade the industry to upgrade its plants. For generations, the industry had followed a piecemeal growth pattern that proved relatively inefficient in the face of world competition. The Labour Party came to power at the 1945 general election, pledging to bring several industries into
state ownership State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownershi ...
. In 1946, it put the first steel development plan into practice with the aim of increasing capacity. It passed the
Iron and Steel Act 1949 The Iron and Steel Act 1949 (12 & 13 Geo. 6. c. 72) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or bought into state control, elements of the iron and steel industry in Great Britain. It established an Iron and Steel ...
, which meant nationalisation of the industry, as the government bought out the shareholders, and created the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain. American
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...
aid in 1948–50 reinforced modernisation efforts and provided funding for them. However, the nationalisation was reversed by the
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
government after 1952. The industry was re-nationalised in 1967 under another Labour government, becoming British Steel Corporation (BSC). But by then, 20 years of political manipulation had left companies, such as British Steel, with serious problems: a complacency with existing equipment, plants operating below full capacity (hence the low efficiency), poor-quality assets, outdated technology, government price controls, higher coal and oil costs, lack of funds for capital improvement, and increasing competition on the world market. By the 1970s, the Labour government's main goal for the declining industry was to keep employment high. Since British Steel was a major employer in depressed regions, it was decided to keep many mills and facilities operating at a loss. In the 1980s, Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher re-privatised BSC as British Steel. Under private control, the company dramatically cut its workforce and underwent a radical reorganisation and massive capital investment to again become competitive in the world marketplace.


Nationalisation

BSC was formed from the assets of former private companies which had been nationalised, largely under the Labour government of
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
, on 28 July 1967. Wilson's was the second attempt at nationalisation, the post-war government of
Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...
had created the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain in 1951 taking public ownership of 80 companies but this had been largely reversed by the following
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
governments of the 1950s with only Britain's largest steel company, Richard Thomas and Baldwins, remaining in public ownership. BSC was established under the
Iron and Steel Act 1967 The Iron and Steel Act 1967 was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, which regulated corporate governance in the iron and steel industries. It required that employees had voting rights for the board of directors. Contents Schedule 4, Part ...
, which vested in the Corporation the shares of the fourteen major UK-based steel companies then in operation, being: *
David Colville & Sons David Colville & Sons, a Scottish iron and steel company, was founded in 1871 and it opened its Dalzell Steel and Iron Works at Motherwell in 1872. By the first World War, it was the largest steel works in Scotland and it continued to expanded a ...
; *
Consett Iron Company The Consett Iron Company Ltd was an industrial business based in the Consett area of County Durham in the United Kingdom. The company owned coal mines and limestone quarries, and manufactured iron and steel. It was registered on 4 April 1864 a ...
Ltd; * Dorman Long & Company Ltd; *
English Steel Corporation The English Steel Corporation Ltd was a United Kingdom steel producer. The company was jointly owned by Cammell Laird and Vickers and was formed to bring together their basic steel making interests, principally in the Sheffield area but also incl ...
Ltd; *
GKN GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...
Steel Company Ltd; *
John Summers & Sons John Summers & Sons Ltd was a major United Kingdom iron and steel producer, latterly based on the Dee Estuary at Shotton, Flintshire. The company was absorbed into British Steel Corporation in 1967; British Steel became Corus in 1999 and this c ...
Ltd; * The Lancashire Steel Corporation Ltd; * The Park Gate Iron and Steel Company Ltd; * Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd; * Round Oak Steelworks Ltd; * South Durham Steel & Iron Company Ltd; * The Steel Company of Wales Ltd; *
Stewarts & Lloyds Stewarts & Lloyds was a steel tube manufacturer with its headquarters in Glasgow at 41 Oswald Street. The company was created in 1903 by the amalgamation of two of the largest iron and steel makers in Britain, A. & J. Stewart & Menzies, Coatbridg ...
, Ltd; and * The United Steel Companies Ltd. At the time of its formation, BSC comprised around ninety percent of the UK's steelmaking capacity; it had around 268,500 employees and around 200 wholly or partly-owned subsidiaries based in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Africa, South Asia, and South America. Dorman Long, South Durham and Stewarts and Lloyds had merged as British Steel and Tube Ltd before vesting took place. BSC later arranged an exchange deal with
Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...
Ltd (GKN), the parent company of GKN Steel, under which BSC acquired Dowlais Ironworks at Merthyr Tydfil and GKN took over BSC's
Brymbo Steelworks The Brymbo Steel Works was a former large steelworks in the village of Brymbo near Wrexham, Wales. In operation between 1796 and 1990, it was significant on account of its founder, one of whose original blast furnace stacks remains on the site ...
near Wrexham.


Restructuring

According to Blair (1997), British Steel faced serious problems at the time of its formation, including obsolescent plants; plants operating under capacity and thus at low efficiency; outdated technology; price controls that reduced marketing flexibility; soaring coal and oil costs; lack of capital investment funds; and increasing competition on the world market. By the 1970s, the government adopted a policy of keeping employment high in the declining industry. This especially impacted BSC since it was a major employer in a number of depressed regions. One of the arguments made in favour of nationalisation was that it would enable steel production to be rationalised. This involved concentrating investment on major integrated plants, placed near the coast for ease of access by sea, and closing older, smaller plants, especially those that had been located inland for proximity to coal supplies. From the mid-1970s, British Steel pursued a strategy of concentrating steelmaking in five areas: South Wales,
South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...
, Scunthorpe,
Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...
and Scotland. This policy continued following the Conservative victory at the 1979 general election. Other traditional steelmaking areas faced cutbacks. Under the Labour government of James Callaghan, a review by Lord Beswick had led to the reprieve of the so-called 'Beswick plants', for social reasons, but subsequent governments were obliged under EU rules to withdraw subsidies. Major changes resulted across Europe, including in the UK: * At
Consett Consett is a town in County Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019. History Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its' name originates in the ...
, the closure of the British Steel works in 1980 marked the end of steel production in Derwent Valley and the sharp decline of the area. * At
Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 Census, the built-up area had a population of 5 ...
, the closure of the former Stewarts & Lloyds site in the early-1980s saw the loss of 11,000 jobs, leading to an initial unemployment rate of over 30%. * In Wales, works at East Moors (Cardiff) closed in 1978. *Shotton closure of the heavy end with the loss of over 6,000 jobs. * In Scotland, Western Europe's largest hot strip steel mill
Ravenscraig steelworks The Ravenscraig steelworks, operated by Colvilles and from 1967 by British Steel Corporation, consisted of an integrated iron and steel works and a hot strip steel mill. They were located in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Motherwell ...
, near Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, was closed by British Steel in 1992, leading to high levels of unemployment in the area. It also led to the closure of several local support and satellite businesses, such as the nearby British Steel Clydesdale Works in
Mossend Mossend is a small town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, located on the A775 road to the immediate east of its 'sister town' Bellshill, west of the villages of Holytown and New Stevenston, north of the larger town of Motherwell and south of the E ...
, Clyde Alloy in Netherton and equipment maker Anderson Strathclyde. Demolition of the site's landmark blue gasometer in 1996, and the subsequent cleanup operation, has created the largest
brownfield site In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...
in Europe. This huge area between Motherwell and Wishaw is in line to be transformed into the new town of
Ravenscraig Ravenscraig is a village and new town, located in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, around 1½ miles east of Motherwell. Ravenscraig was formerly the site of Ravenscraig steelworks; once the largest hot strip steel mill in western Europe, the stee ...
, a project partly funded by Corus.


Privatisation

The
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
manifesto for the 1987 general election noted that "British Steel has more than doubled its productivity since 1979 and made a profit last year for the first time in over ten years." Following Margaret Thatcher's re-election, on 3 December 1987 the
Conservative government Conservative or Tory government may refer to: Canada In Canadian politics, a Conservative government may refer to the following governments administered by the Conservative Party of Canada or one of its historical predecessors: * 1st Canadian Min ...
formally announced in a statement by
Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as de ...
,
Minister of State for Trade and Industry The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) was a United Kingdom government department formed on 19 October 1970. It was replaced with the creation of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for Innovation ...
, that it intended to privatise the British Steel Corporation. On 5 September 1988 the assets, rights and liabilities of British Steel Corporation were transferred to British Steel plc, registered under the Companies Act as company number 2280000, by the British Steel Act 1988. The government retained a special share which carried no voting rights but until 31 December 1993, permitted the government to stop any one party controlling more than 15% of the shares. British Steel employees were given a free allocation of shares, and offered two free shares for each they purchased up to £165, discounted shares up to £2,200, and priority on applying for shares up to £10,000. Dealing in shares opened on the London Stock Exchange on 5 December 1988.


Post-privatisation

The privatised company later merged with the Dutch steel producer
Koninklijke Hoogovens Koninklijke Hoogovens known as Koninklijke Nederlandse Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken (KNHS) until 1996 or informally Hoogovens. was a Dutch steel producer founded in 1918. Since 2010, the plant is named Tata Steel IJmuiden. The IJmuiden steelwor ...
to form
Corus Group Corus may refer to: Places *Çörüş, Gazipaşa, a village in Antalya Province, Turkey Facilities and structures * Corus Quay, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; an office tower Fictional locations * Corus, a fictional world that is the setting for the ...
on 6 October 1999. Corus itself was taken over in March 2007 by the Indian steel operator Tata Steel.


Chairmen

* Julian, Lord Melchett (1967–1973) *
Monty Finniston Sir Harold Montague "Monty" Finniston FRS FRSE (15 August 1912 – 2 February 1991) was a Scottish industrialist. Life He was born at 26 Aikenhead Road in Govanhill, Glasgow the son of Robert Finniston. His family were of Russian Jewish orig ...
(1973–1976) * Charles Villiers (1976–1980) *
Ian MacGregor Sir Ian Kinloch MacGregor, KBE (21 September 1912 – 13 April 1998) was a Scottish-American metallurgist and industrialist, most famous in the UK for his controversial tenure at the British Steel Corporation and his conduct during the 1984 ...
(1980–1983) * Robert Haslam (1983–1986) *
Robert Scholey Sir Robert Scholey (8 October 1921 – 12 January 2014) was the Chairman of British Steel from 1986 to 1992. Early life Scholey was born in Sheffield and was educated at King Edward VII School, Sheffield. He left school aged 16 to work for ...
(1986–1992) *Sir Brian Moffat (1992-1999) Ian MacGregor later became famous for his role as Chairman of the
National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...
during the
UK miners' strike (1984–1985) UK miners' strike may refer to: *UK miners' strike (1893) * South Wales miners' strike (1910) *National coal strike of 1912 *UK miners' strike (1921) *UK miners' strike (1953) *UK miners' strike (1969), a widespread unofficial strike * UK miners' s ...
. During the strike the "
Battle of Orgreave The Battle of Orgreave was a violent confrontation on 18 June 1984 between pickets and officers of the South Yorkshire Police (SYP) and other police forces, including the Metropolitan Police, at a British Steel Corporation (BSC) coking plant a ...
" took place at British Steel's coking plant.


Sponsorships

In 1971 British Steel sponsored Sir
Chay Blyth Sir Charles Blyth (born 14 May 1940), known as Chay Blyth, is a Scottish yachtsman and rower. He was the first person to sail single-handed non-stop westwards around the world (1971), on a 59-foot boat called '' British Steel''. Early life B ...
in his record-making non-stop
circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...
against the winds and currents, known as 'The Impossible Voyage'. In 1992 they sponsored the British Steel Challenge, the first of a series of 'wrong way' races for amateur crews. British Steel had agreed a sponsorship deal with Middlesbrough Football Club during the 1994–95 season, with a view to British Steel-sponsored Middlesbrough shirts making their appearance the following season. But the sponsorship deal was terminated before it commenced after it was revealed that
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
steel only made up a tiny fraction of steel used in construction of the stadium, and that the bulk of the steel had been imported from Germany.


In popular culture

The English
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band XTC mentioned British Steel in their 1979 song
Making Plans for Nigel "Making Plans for Nigel" is a song by the English rock band XTC that was released as the opening track and lead single from their 1979 album ''Drums and Wires'', by Virgin Records. It was written by Colin Moulding, the band's bassist. The lyrics a ...
.


See also

*
British Iron and Steel Research Association The British Iron and Steel Research Association or BISRA, formed in 1944, was the research arm of the British steel industry. It had headquarters in London, originally at 11 Park Lane, later moved to 24 Buckingham Gate, with Laboratories in Shef ...


References


Bibliography

*


Further reading

* , on nationalization 1945–50, pp 183–235 *Dudley, G. F., and J. J. Richardson, eds. ''Politics and Steel in Britain, 1967–1988: The Life and Times of the British Steel Corporation'' (1990) *Rhodes, Martin; Wright, Vincent. "The European Steel Unions and the Steel Crisis, 1974–84: A Study in the Demise of Traditional Unionism," ''British Journal of Political Science,'' April 1988, Vol. 18 Issue 2, pp 171–19
in JSTOR
*Scheuerman, William. ''The Steel Crisis: The Economics and Politics of a Declining Industry'' (1986)


External links



1988
Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...
report
British Steel plc and C Walker & Sons (Holdings) Ltd
1990
Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...
report *
Catalogue of the BSC archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Catalogue of the BSC Department of Operational Research archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick {{DEFAULTSORT:British Steel (1967-1999) Steel companies of the United Kingdom Defunct companies of the United Kingdom Former nationalised industries of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1967 Manufacturing companies established in 1967 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1999 1967 establishments in England 1999 disestablishments in England Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange British companies disestablished in 1999 Tata Steel Europe