British Steel

British Steel is a UK-based steelmaker with roots that run deep into the country's industrial history. The modern company was formed in 2016 when Greybull Capital bought the long products division of Tata Steel for £1 and revived a brand that had disappeared into the Corus merger in 1999. But the story really starts in 1967, when the Labour government nationalized 14 major steel companies, including Colvilles, Dorman Long, and Stewarts and Lloyds, to create the British Steel Corporation. At its peak, BSC employed over 250,000 people and controlled nearly all of Britain's steel output.

Today's British Steel is a much leaner operation, with around 3,600 employees and its main integrated steelworks in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire. That site has been making iron since 1864 and steel since 1890, making it one of the oldest continuously operating steel plants in the world. The company is the UK's last producer of virgin steel, meaning steel made from iron ore rather than recycled scrap, which gives it a strategic importance that goes beyond its size. Its products include rail tracks, structural sections for construction, and Durbar floor plate, a brand that has been made in the UK for over 50 years.

British Steel has had a turbulent recent history. In 2019, the company entered compulsory liquidation after the government refused a £30 million rescue package, threatening 5,000 direct jobs and 20,000 more in the supply chain. Chinese industrial conglomerate Jingye Group stepped in to buy the business in March 2020. But in 2024, the UK government took the company into public ownership again, a controversial move that drew criticism from China. Despite these upheavals, the Scunthorpe plant continues to produce steel, and the brand remains a symbol of British industrial heritage. [edit]