150 years of the Shelton Works - page 20
150 years of the Shelton Works - page 20
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Chairman of Shelton Iron,
Steel & Coal Co Ltd
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| Just as the Allied forces
sought to capture ground from the Kaiser, there were advances being made
into the business world of North Staffordshire by Flintshire steelmakers
John Summers and Sons Ltd. Summers had no blastfurnaces of their own, and cast envious glances at Shelton, which has over capacity in ironmaking. The war safely over, the Works was faced with a wage bill of £33,000 a week, which was three times what it had been before the hostilities; outstanding debts amounted to £172,000; and the John Summers company had been picking up shares on the open market. The next step was for them to approach the major shareholders with a cash offer of five shillings (25p) for each £1 Shelton share, as well as a cumulative preference share in Summers. The Shelton Annual General Meeting on March 27th 1920 saw the writing on the wall, and asked the Shotton-based Summers family to make the same offer to all shareholders. They did, and in November 1920 Shelton became a private company, with the Summers family holding most of the equity. |
