In 1864, Frodingham Iron Works was founded, forming the core of steel production in Scunthorpe. A year later, local iron ore mining commenced, and in 1874 the Appleby Iron Company was founded, eventually merging with Frodingham Iron Works in 1912 to form the Appleby-Frodingham Steel Company. A significant step forward came in 1890 with the introduction of Thomas converter steelmaking technology.

In 1937, Appleby-Frodingham became part of United Steel Companies, and just before the outbreak of World War II, two modern blast furnaces — Mary and Bess — were installed in 1939. In 1954, two additional blast furnaces – Anna and Victoria – were added. From that point on, the blast furnace plant became popularly known as the “Four Queens.”

The year 1967 marked a turning point with the establishment of British Steel Corporation (BSC), which consolidated 90% of UK steel production under national control and focused investments on key locations, including Scunthorpe. Between 1969 and 1973, a major modernization effort known as the Anchor Project took place. This project included the construction of new mills, including the Bloom and Billet Mill and Medium Section Mill, as well as the commissioning of a Basic Oxygen Furnace with secondary metallurgy in the Concast plant. In 1973, an iron ore terminal was completed in Immingham, facilitating the import of raw materials by sea and direct rail connection to Scunthorpe.

After British Steel was privatized in 1988, further modernization in the 1990s led to increased productivity. In 1999, British Steel merged with the Dutch company Koninklijke Hoogovens, forming the Corus Group, which was acquired by India’s Tata Steel in 2007. For a time, Scunthorpe was part of Tata Steel Europe.

In 2016, the European long products division, including Scunthorpe, was sold to Greybull Capital, which rebranded it as British Steel Ltd. Subsequently, in 2020, British Steel was acquired by the Chinese Hebei Jingye Group.