The Hughes Bolckow Shipbreaking Company was founded in the mid 1900s by Ralph Townsend Hughes and Charles Frederick Henry Bolckow. The first vessels purchased by the company were broken up at Derwenthaugh on the River Tyne. In 1911 the business leased land at Blyth, which would become its main operational base, with the site being renamed Battleship Wharf and their site at Derwenthaugh closing in the late 1920s.

Business continued at Blyth, including a change of name to Hughes Bolckow Ltd in 1926, and in 1937 the business was purchased by Metal Industries Ltd. The business continued to operate independently of Metal Industries pre-existing shipbreaking business Shipbreaking Industries. In 1943 the business expanded into fitting out of naval vessels to support the demand for new ships for the Navy. Returning to dismantling post war, businesses continued, and in the mid 1960s the company undertook a large amount of breaking up of ex-British Railways steam locomotives. Shipbreaking activities ceased at Blyth in 1980 following a decline in the number of available vessels and competition provided by overseas businesses.