Although theories of a counterbid from Russian company Severstal for Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus appear increasingly unlikely, the firm's billionaire owner, Alexei Mordashov, still has ambitious international expansion plans for his business.
In 1967, the steelworks were nationalised to become the British Steel Corporation, later privatised as British Steel, which in 1999 merged with Dutch company Hoogevens to become Corus.