C F Booth

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C F Booth Ltd is a family‑owned scrap metal and recycling company based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1920 by Clarence Frederick Booth as a metal purchaser and trader. Over the years the business grew to include several sites, with the main yard at Clarence Metal Works beside the Sheffield & Rotherham Railway. The firm also operated a site in Aston near Rotherham for dismantling buses and a rail‑served site in Doncaster (which later closed).

Clarence Works is a large scrapyard for ferrous and non‑ferrous metals and also runs a non‑ferrous melting shop. In the 1960s the railway embankment near the site was altered to provide ground‑level access for dismantling locomotives. The company became well known for scrapping rail vehicles, including a high‑profile project with British Rail in 1987 that involved part of the APT fleet. Today, most rail vehicles arrive by road, though some still come through a connection to Network Rail. The firm also handles cable and electrical equipment.

In 1989 C F Booth started a copper alloy melting division, making ingots for the foundry industry. It is now one of the largest copper‑based product manufacturers in the UK and also offers machining services for large metal sections used in marine, oil and gas, and defence sectors. The company won the Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2012 and has an annual turnover of about £170 million.

In March 2025 HMRC listed C F Booth as a deliberate tax defaulter for failing to pay £2.8 million in taxes. In January 2026 the company entered administration.

Booth family and Rotherham United FC: In 1987 Ken Booth bought Rotherham United F.C. out of administration, and the Booth family owned the club for about 17 years with Booth as chairman. After ITV Digital collapsed and debts reached around £3 million, the family sold the club in December 2004 to supporters led by Peter Ruchniewicz, in exchange for ownership of the club’s ground at Millmoor, the Tivoli nightclub, and the Hooton Lodge training ground. The club paid rent and enjoyed certain perks, but talks over the lease later broke down and Millmoor was left behind when the team moved to a new stadium. Millmoor is now mostly unused, apart from its car park which has been used by C F Booth as storage for former London Underground rolling stock awaiting scrapping. A number of rail vehicles brought through the yard have been sold for preservation over the years.