Nationalised Industries: British Steel

British Steel Corporation, CORUS and predecessor companies

British Steel Corporation came into being in 1967, with the nationalisation of the United Steel Companies. The steelworks in Workington were initially a part of the Midland Group, but in 1970 became a part of the Teeside and Workington Group of the Corporation, which they remained until British Steel became part of CORUS in the 1990s. There had been steelworking companies in and around Workington since 1856, although many only operated for a few years. In 1909 the remaining companies - the Workington Iron Company, the Harrington Iron and Coal Company, the Moss Bay Hematite Iron and Steel Company and the Workington operation of Cammell, Laird and Company - amalgamated to become the Workington Iron and Steel Company. This became a branch of the Sheffield based United Steel Companies in 1919, with the Distington Hematite Iron Company joining them in 1922.

Other records of local steelmaking may of course be deposited with Cumbria Archives and as well as following the links below, it would also be advisable to conduct other 'free text' searches of our online catalogues.

Although British Steel originated as a nationalised industry, records of nationalised industries including British Steel, are not technically held as public records. British Steel was later converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988.