ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses the industries in which few organisations operate are self-evident from their titles. The organisations are the National Coal Board, the British Gas Corporation, the European branch of British Airways, the Central Electricity Generating Board and the telecommunications service of the Post Office. Rationalisation of the provision of public utility services had already been used by the Government and Parliament in one or two instances as a means of promoting greater efficiency in supply, which provided a precedent for the postwar corporations. In addition, the condition of working methods and capital employed in some of the industries was such as to make men experienced in their operations more than ready to look for change. The production and distribution of gas before nationalisation had been in the hands of nearly a thousand local undertakings.
