... ‘British Steel’ name to come back

With the Tatas agreeing to sell its Scunthorpe steel plant in the UK to investment firm Greybull for a nominal one pound, the storied ‘British Steel’ name will be back in the now-ailing industry.

Way back in 1967, 14 major steel producers in Britain had come together to form British Steel Corporation (BSC) as part of nationalisation efforts to reshape a vital industry after years of insufficient capital investment. After suffering huge losses and facing labour troubles for years, followed by closure of several plants, BSC made a significant turnaround in 1980s. The government subsequently announced privatisation of BSC in 1987 and its assets were transferred to a newly-created company named ‘British Steel’ a year later.

British Steel then merged with Koninklijke Hoogovens in 1999 to form Corus, which emerged over the years as a major global player in the steel industry and was eventually acquired by Indian conglomerate Tata group in a USD 14-billion deal in 2007 after a long-drawn takeover battle with Brazil’s CSN.