In 1934, as a condition of substantial tariff protection for the British steel industry, the government caused the industry to form the British Iron and Steel Federation (BISF). After the war, during which the industry's output was tightly controlled by government, the Federation re-emerged with the task of making a development plan for the post war industry, a plan which was in fact implemented very substantially over the next ten years. It remained a federation of mostly quite small, often local, associations which conducted the day-to-day affairs of their sections of the industry with significant independence, but with advice from a large central federation staff on technical matters including research and standards, statistics, training, market development, exports, procurement of raw materials for virtually the whole industry and policy towards government. The Federation survived the nugatory nationalisation of 1951 but then had to adapt itself, following denationalisation in 1953, to a new statutory control regime principally consisting of an Iron and Steel Board, which had powers to set maximum prices for steel and to control the industry's plant development.
Reference: Ian Blakely OBE, A History of UK Steel Industry Associations (http://www.uksteel.org.uk/history.htm).
From the guide to the Papers of the British Iron and Steel Federation, 1934-1967, (Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Library)
