ABSTRACT
Entrepreneurs in both the steel industry and in distribution were much more likely to hold a position of major responsibility in business in their twenties or even earlier than were those in the general sample. The size of the enterprises in the twentieth-century steel industry attracted recruits from more privileged backgrounds, with a better, or at least a more expensive, education than the average entrepreneur. The structure of the industry and its capital requirements are also reflected in the steel industry. The steel industry is, by contrast, one of the most intensively-studied industrial sectors in the British economy and there was little trouble in identifying subjects for inclusion in the Dictionary. Building up a social profile of the leading figures in the various industrial and commercial sectors of the economy will help to understand better the ‘social history’ of the businessman in British society, and how that history can help to explain the economic history of Britain.
