NORWEB
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (February 2020) |
Formerly | North Western Electricity Board |
---|---|
Industry | Electric utility |
Founded | 1948 |
Defunct | 1995 (merged) 2001 (branding retired) |
Fate | Merged with North West Water to form United Utilities, retail stores acquired by and merged into Comet Group |
Area served | North West England |
Norweb, originally the North Western Electricity Board, was a British electricity supply and distribution company. It supplied electricity to about 4.7 million industrial, commercial and domestic customers in the
History
Nationalised industry
The board was originally formed in 1948, as part of the nationalisation of the electricity industry by the Electricity Act 1947. The board was responsible for the purchase of electricity from the electricity generator (the Central Electricity Generating Board from 1958) and its distribution and sale to customers. The key people on the board were: Chairman R. F. Richardson (1964, 1967), Deputy Chairman F. Linley (1964, 1967), full-time member J. W. K. Evans (1967).[1]
The total number of customers supplied by the board was as follows:[2][3]
Year | 1948/9 | 1960/1 | 1965/6 | 1970/1 | 1975/6 | 1978/9 | 1980/1 | 1985/6 | 1987/8 | 1988/9 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. of Customers, ('000s) | 1,259 | 1,671 | 1,793 | 1,850 | 1,914 | 1,960 | 1,979 | 2,037 | 2,065 | 2,080 |
The amount of electricity, in GWh, sold by Norweb was:[2][3]
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Post privatisation
The assets of the board passed to Norweb plc in July 1990, which was privatised in a stock market flotation later in the same year.
Norweb was acquired by
The value electrical retailing arm Norweb Retail was sold to the Kingfisher Group in November 1996 for £51 million; seeing the closure of the Bolton head office, the CAS distribution centre in Worsley, the flagship Coventry 285, 57 high street stores and half of its out of town superstores. Remaining stores were rebranded under the name Comet.
UU retained the remainder of the company, including the distribution network in the northwest of England, as Norweb Distribution. In November 2001, Norweb was renamed United Utilities Electricity.
The company was the licensed distribution network operator for the North West England, until its sale in December 2007 to North West Electricity Networks, a joint venture between Colonial First State and JPMorgan Chase. Electricity North West became the licensed distribution network operator for the North West of England, as a consequence of the sale.
Headquarters
A new headquarters building for the board was built in 1963 on the site of the Dickinson Street power station in Manchester. The architects of this steel-framed building were Harry S. Fairhurst & Son. The project required the draining and infilling of an arm of the Rochdale Canal. The staircases, lifts and cloakrooms are in the eastern wing, separate from the offices.[5]
Cultural references
English
Norweb was also referenced in
Norweb is referenced in the
See also
References
- ^ Electricity Council publicity brochure 1964 and 1967
- ^ ISBN 0851880762.
- ^ ISBN 085188122X.
- ^ "Powergen buys up TXU UK". The Guardian. 21 October 2002. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
- ^ Sharp, Dennis, et al. (1969) Manchester. London: Studio Vista; p. 41