A history of ups and downs

Records show what tools and cutlery were being made in Sheffield as long ago as the 13th century. The city not only produced steel and made metal goods, but also pioneered the processes by which they were made; for example, the first stainless steel was produced in 1913.

The first large-scale works in Sheffield each employed up to 500 workers. But these were dwarfed by the massive steel and engineering works that grew up in the east of the city after the 1860s. During its peak Sheffield was producing 40% of all British-made steel and 50% of all that made in Europe.

The metal industries were severely hit in the late 1970s and 1980s. There was overcapacity in Europe, and the government of 1979 was not prepared to continue subsidising the industry.

After the 13-week national steel strike in 1980, the steel, engineering and metal manufacturing industries suffered huge redundancies. In 1981, there were 27.000 jobs in steel production in Sheffield and 43,000 in engineering and metal manufacturing. By 1991, there were just 7,000 jobs in steel and fewer than 30,000 in engineering and metal manufacturing.

Although heavy industry now plays a much reduced role, for the past six years Sheffield has had the fastest growing city economy outside London.

1. Sheffield was for a long time a leader in the production of steel.

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2. The factories built in the east of Sheffield after 1860 were larger than the earlier ones.

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3. At its height, Sheffield was producing almost all of the steel produced in Europe.

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4. After 1979, the British government agreed to put money into the steel industry.

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5. The steel strike in 1980 was part of a General Strike all over Britain.

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6. Between 1981 and 1991, the number of job losses in the steel industry was greater than in the engineering and metal industries.

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7. In the last six years, the steel firms in Sheffield have gone out of business.

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