Holding fast

There are many debates about the fundamentals of engineering. Are they a sound basis in mathematics and physics? Are they an understanding of the properties of materials and how they can be manipulated? Do they depend on studying the needs of society and how technology can meet them?

But all of these miss the obvious. The fundamentals of engineering - the nuts and bolts, if you like - are nuts and bolts. And screws, clips, nails and every other type of fastening. The whole thing would literally fall apart without them.

Although ubiquitous, fasteners are often taken for granted or overlooked altogether. Yet the fasteners sector is large, producing more than 100,000 tonnes of product in the UK every year, even though its size has declined steeply over the past 30 years. At one time, the UK was the centre of the world fastenings market; in the 19th and early 20th centuries, companies such as Guest, Keen and Co and Nettlefold and Chamberlain turned out millions upon millions of screws and fastenings from vast factories in the Midlands. Although those names may be unfamiliar now, the initials of Guest, Keen and Nettlefold - once one of the world’s largest manufacturing businesses, making its own steel and turning it into products - survive as GKN.