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Private company

David Colville & Sons

Scottish iron and steel company

David Colville & Sons, a Scottish iron and steel company, was founded in 1871 and it opened its Dalzell Steel and Iron Works at Motherwell in 1872. By the first World War, it was the largest steel works in Scotland and it continued to expanded afterwards taking over a number of other steel works in Cambuslang and Glengarnock. Nationalised in 1951, it became part of the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1871Founded1
  • Industryiron and steel industry1
  • HeadquartersMotherwell1

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Dalzell Steel Works from the air - geograph.org.uk - 7945453
Photo: Thomas Nugent, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

David Colville & Sons, a Scottish iron and steel company, was founded in 1871 and it opened its Dalzell Steel and Iron Works at Motherwell in 1872. By the first World War, it was the largest steel works in Scotland and it continued to expanded afterwards taking over a number of other steel works in Cambuslang and Glengarnock.2

The story

David Colville & Sons was founded in 1871. The company's first plant was the Dalzell Steel and Iron Works in Motherwell, which was opened in 1872, and by World War I this plant was the largest individual steel works in the country.

Colville's quickly grew into a substantial concern, and by 1900 they were the largest employers in Motherwell. During World War I the Government of the United Kingdom asked Colville's to intervene in some of the nearby struggling steel plants, and to that effect they took over the running of the Clydebridge Steel Company works in Cambuslang in 1915, and the Glengarnock works in 1916.

From Wikipedia’s article on David Colville & Sons, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

Tata Steel closed the Dalzell and Clydebridge works in 2015, but both reopened in 2016 following the sale of the sites to Liberty House Group. However, the viability of the sites was again placed in doubt when the Liberty holding company was issued with a winding-up petition in early 2022 over substantial debts, a situation compounded by the collapse in productivity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.

From Wikipedia’s article on David Colville & Sons, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Timeline

  1. 1871Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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