British steel corporation

The Iron and Steel Act of 1967 brought the 14 largest steel companies, representing about 90 per cent of the UK's steelmaking capacity, into public ownership as the British Steel Corporation. The other companies within the industry, numbering about 140 and representing about 15 per cent of the total industry (the remaining steelmakers plus the processors), responded immediately to the inevitable disappearance of the British Iron and Steel Federation by forming The British Independent Steel Producers Association (BISPA). In 1988, after a period of profound rationalisation, British Steel Corporation was privatised to become British Steel plc. Many of the supplier/competitor tensions between the previous private sector and the new private sector had by now been removed. As a result, BISPA and British Steel worked ever closer together with government, Europe and in many other areas, culminating in 1993 in British Steel joining the Association which then changed its name to the British Iron and Steel Producers Association. In 1997, because of an increased emphasis on promoting the success of the UK steel industry to the public, BISPA changed its name to the UK Steel Association.

Reference: Ian Blakely OBE, A History of UK Steel Industry Associations (http://www.uksteel.org.uk/history.htm). Accessed May 2002

From the guide to the British Steel Corporation, 1959-1980, (Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Library)