Steel Strip

Despite years of decline, the UK Automotive Industry, continues to be a vital part of the UK’s manufacturing Industry.
The UK is the fourth largest automotive manufacturer in Europe, building two million engines and one million vehicles in 2009 according to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
More than two million engines and [...]

The following article by Roger Bootle appears in Today’s Telegraph
This is a far cry from the days when it was widely believed that British man could live by services alone. But it is now part of the zeitgeist. Since the financial crisis erupted, there has been a persistent strain of comment to the effect that [...]

from the Liverpoolecho , article by Neil Hodgson
VAUXHALL’S Ellesmere Port plant could be closed down if its parent company General Motors does not get Government support, the company warned today.
GM Europe president Carl-Peter Forster, speaking at the Geneva Motor Show, said the slump in car sales meant the company would be left with little [...]

The government is being urged to give the same financial support to manufacturing during the recession as it has to failing UK banks.
The Work Foundation think tank wants emergency state funding to help save jobs and companies in the "extremely important" sector of the economy.
Its comments came as a CBI survey showed that factory [...]

Corus has become the first leading UK industrial company to find itself caught by the reduction of cover to its suppliers by one of the world’s largest credit insurers.
Euler Hermes said it was reducing the amount of cover it was willing to write for suppliers of the country’s largest steelmaker as a result of a [...]

Today Alistair Darling announced that an agreement had been reached with Royal Bank of Scotland to restrict bonuses to the minimum "within it’s legal obligations".
I’m with Ken Clarke. Don’t pay a penny in bonuses to a failed bank that has been rescued to the tune of Billions by the countries taxpayers.
If they want to sue [...]

France on Wednesday fiercely defended its plan to pump almost nine billion euros into its struggling carmakers after EU countries labeled it protectionist and called a crisis summit.
President Nicolas Sarkozy announced plans to lend PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault three billion euros (3.9 billion dollars) each on top of other measures in exchange for a [...]

The Prime Minister has insisted there should be "no reward for failure" at banks which have had to be bailed out by the taxpayer.
Gordon Brown was speaking after reports Royal Bank of Scotland is considering awarding large bonuses, despite expectations of huge annual losses.
However Mr Brown stopped short of saying the government would impose [...]

I don’t normally do "political" stuff, but on a day when Corus announced painful job cuts in the steel industry which will put 2,500 thousand men out of work, with little prospect of employment, it makes me sick to read of the allegations against Lord Taylor.
For the benefit of overseas readers, Lord Taylor is a [...]

I am grateful to Maria at American Metal Market , for sending me a link to an article that appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, written by David Bear. If you ever get to the UK David, I would gladly be your guide to Ironbridge for the day.
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IRONBRIDGE GORGE, Shropshire, England — It may be [...]