British Steel
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/* References */ Added catagory Ironworks and steelworks in England
[[Image:British Steel.png|thumb|150px|British Steel company logo (1966-)]]
{{about|the company|the Judas Priest album|British Steel (album)}}
'''British Steel''' was a major British [[steel]] producer. It originated as a [[nationalization|nationalised]] industry, the [[British Steel Corporation]] (BSC), formed in 1967. This was converted to a limited company, British Steel plc, and privatised in 1988. Following subsequent mergers, the business is now owned by [[Corus Group|Corus]], a [[Tata Steel]] company.
==Nationalisation==
BSC was formed from the assets of former private companies which had been nationalised, largely under the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] government of [[Harold Wilson]] (1964-1970). Wilson's was the second attempt at nationalisation, [[Clement Attlee]]'s [[Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain]] having been largely privatised by the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] governments of the 1950's. Only one steel company, [[Richard Thomas and Baldwins]], remained in public ownership throughout.
BSC was established under the Iron and Steel Act 1967, which vested in the Corporation the shares of the fourteen major steel companies (one missing from this list):
*[[Colvilles]] Ltd
*[[Consett Iron Company]] Ltd
*[[Dorman Long]] & Company Ltd
*[[English Steel Corporation]] Ltd
*[[GKN Steel Company]] Ltd
*[[John Summers & Sons]] Ltd
*[[Lancashire Steel Corporation]] Ltd
*[[Richard Thomas and Baldwins]] Ltd
*[[Skinningrove Iron Company]] Ltd
*[[South Durham Steel & Iron Company]] Ltd
*[[Steel Company of Wales]] Ltd
*[[Stewarts & Lloyds]] Ltd
*[[United Steel Companies]] Ltd
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]] 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]] near [[Wrexham]].
==Change in the British steel industry==
The Act brought together 90 per cent of the UK's steelmaking to form BSC, a single business with 268,500 employees.<ref>[http://www.uksteel.org.uk/keydates.htm UK Steel:Key dates]</ref>
One of the arguments aired 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 the (now loss-making) British Steel pursued a strategy of concentrating steelmaking in five areas: South Wales, [[South Yorkshire]], [[Scunthorpe]], [[Teesside]] and [[Scotland]]. This policy continued following the Conservative victory in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1979|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]] the closure of the British Steel works in 1980 marked the end of steel production in the [[River Derwent, North East England|Derwent Valley]] and the decline of the area.
* At [[Corby]] the early 1980s saw the loss of 11,000 jobs leading to an initial unemployment rate of over 30%.<ref>[http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmtlgr/603/603ap33.htm Select Committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions, HMSO]</ref>
* In Wales, works at East Moors (Cardiff), [[Ebbw Vale]] and [[Shotton]] were closed.
* In Scotland, Western Europe's largest hot strip steel mill [[Ravenscraig steelworks]], near [[Motherwell, Scotland|Motherwell]], [[North Lanarkshire]], was closed by British Steel in 1991, leading to huge 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]], [[Clyde Alloy]] in [[Netherton, North Lanarkshire|Netherton]] and equipment maker [[Anderson Strathclyde]]. Demolition of the site's landmark blue gasometer in 1994, and the subsequent cleanup operation, has created the largest [[Brownfield]] site in [[Europe]]. This huge area between Motherwell and [[Wishaw]] is in line to be transformed into the new town of [[Ravenscraig]], a project partly funded by [[Corus]].
==Privatisation==
British Steel was [[privatization|privatised]] in 1988 under the Conservative government of [[Margaret Thatcher]]. It merged with the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] steel producer ''Koninklijke Hoogovens'' to form ''[[Corus Group]]'' on [[6 October]] [[1999]].<ref>[http://www.corusgroup.com Corus Group Webpage]</ref> Corus itself was taken over in March 2007 by the Indian steel operator [[Tata Steel]].
==Chairmen==
*[[Julian Edward Alfred Mond, 3rd Baron Melchett|Lord Melchett]] (1967 - 1973)
*[[Monty Finniston]] (1973 - 1976)
*[[Charles Hyde Villiers|Charles Villiers]] (1976 - 1980)
*[[Ian MacGregor]] (1980 - 1983)
Ian MacGregor later became famous for his role at British Coal and the [[UK miners' strike (1984-1985)]]. During the strike the "[[Battle of Orgreave]]" took place at British Steel's coking plant.
==Sponsorship==
In 1971, British Steel sponsored Sir [[Chay Blyth]] in his record-making non-stop [[circumnavigation]] against the winds and currents, known as 'The Impossible Voyage'. In 1992 they sponsored the [[Global Challenge|British Steel Challenge]], the first of a series of 'wrong way' races for amateur crews.
British Steel had agreed a sponsorship deal with [[Middlesbrough F.C.|Middlesbrough Football Club]] during the [[1994-95 in English football|1994-95 season]], with a view to British Steel sponsored Middlesbrough shirts making their appearance [[1995-96 in English football|the following season]]. But the sponsorship deal was terminated before it commenced after it was revealed that [[United Kingdom|British]] steel only made up a tiny fraction of steel used in construction of the stadium - the bulk of the steel had been imported from [[Germany]].
==Incidental Information==
The 1980's English art/punk rock band [[XTC]] has a controversial song, (We're Only) Making Plans for Nigel, which frequently mentions British Steel as part of the chorus or hook line.
[[British Steel (album)|British Steel]] is also the name of a 1980 album by [[heavy metal music]] band [[Judas Priest]].
==See also==
* [[British Iron and Steel Research Association]]
* [[British Steel Corporation]]
==References==
<references />
[[Category:Defunct companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Steel companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Former nationalised industries of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ironworks and steelworks in England]]
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