 In January 1991 British Copper Refiners, a subsidiary of BICC, announced the closure of the Prescot plant with the loss of 230 jobs.In 1999 the ailing BICC sold its optical cables business to Corning and power cables businesses to General Cable.BICC also owned construction company Balfour Beatty and, following sale of its cable operations, BICC renamed itself "Balfour Beatty" in 2000.