British Shipbuilders
British Shipbuilders Corporation was a public corporation that owned and managed the UK shipbuilding industry from 1977 and through the 1980s.
1977 The corporation was founded as a result of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 which nationalised all major British shipbuilding companies (listed below). The same act nationalised the three large British aviation companies and grouped them in an analogous corporation, British Aerospace.
1977 Acquired John G. Kincaid and Co under the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977.[1]
Harland and Wolff, the only shipbuilder based in Northern Ireland was a special political case and remained outside the control of the British Shipbuilders management, despite being in its ownership.
1981 Set up a subsidiary company British Shipbuilders Engineering Technical Services to spearhead marketing, sales, design and management of technical projects for customers in power generation, offshore ship-owning and ship-repairing.[2]
1981 Closed the Robb Caledon shipyard in Dundee in an attempt to save money.[3]
1982 "Although running at a significant profit, Falmouth had to undergo drastic surgery to reach viability. It employed 1,400 in 1979 but just have 375 now." Since 1977 the overall BS shiprepair workforce has been cut from 9,000 to 4,136.[4]
1983 British Shipbuilders was privatised in 1983 under the terms of the British Shipbuilders Act 1983.
The various divisions that had survived under nationalised ownership were divested throughout the 1980s as the company wound up operations.
Assets subsumed by British Shipbuilders
- Ailsa Shipbuilding Co
- Austin and Pickersgill
- John Brown and Co
- Cammell, Laird and Co
- William Doxford and Sons
- Ferguson Shipbuilders
- Falmouth Docks Co
- Govan Shipbuilders
- Hall, Russell and Co
- Harland and Wolff
- Hawthorn, Leslie and Co
- John Readhead and Sons
- Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Co
- Robb Caledon Shipbuilders
- Smiths Dock Co
- Swan Hunter
- Vickers Limited Shipbuilding Group
- Vosper Thornycroft
- Wallsend Slipway Co
- Yarrow Shipbuilders
See Also
Sources of Information
[1] Wikipedia