Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

as a steel

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

Edward Vickers Edward Vickers (1804-1897) was the founder of Naylor Vickers & Co. which became Vickers Limited. Career Vickers was a successful miller who invested his money in the railway industry. In 1828 he gained control of his father-in-law's steel foundry ...

and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting

church bell A church bell in Christian architecture is a bell which is rung in a church for a variety of religious purposes, and can be heard outside the building. Traditionally they are used to call worshippers to the church for a communal service, and to ...

s. The company went public in 1867, acquired more businesses, and began branching out into military hardware and shipbuilding. In 1911, the company expanded into aircraft manufacture and opened a flying school. They expanded even further into electrical and railway manufacturing, and in 1928 acquired an interest in the

Supermarine Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that is most famous for producing the Spitfire fighter plane during World War II as well as a range of seaplanes and flying boats, and a series of jet-powered fighter aircraft after World War II ...

. Beginning in the 1960s, various parts of the company were nationalised, and in 1999 the rest of the company was acquired by

Rolls-Royce plc Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...

, who sold the defence arm to Alvis plc. The Vickers name lived on in Alvis Vickers, until the latter was acquired by BAE Systems in 2004 to form BAE Systems Land Systems.

History

Early history

Vickers was formed in

as a steel

and his father-in-law

George Naylor George Naylor (21 October 1670 – 29 January 1730), of Hurstmonceaux, Sussex, was an English lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1706 and 1722. Naylor was the eldest son of Francis Naylor of Staple Inn and his wi ...

in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor & Sanderson and Vickers' brother William owned a steel rolling operation. Edward's investments in the railway industry allowed him to gain control of the company, based at Millsands and known as Naylor Vickers and Company. It began by making steel castings and quickly became famous for casting

s. In 1854 Vickers' sons Thomas (a

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

officer known familiarly as 'Colonel Tom') and joined the business and their considerable talents – Tom Vickers as a metallurgist and Albert as a team-builder and salesman – were key to its subsequent rapid development. "Its great architects," the historian Clive Trebilcock writes, "Colonel T.E. (1833–1915) and Albert (1838–1919) Vickers... provided ''both'' inspired technical leadership... and equally astute commercial direction. Both men were autocrats by temperament, but neither shunned advice or avoided delegation; each, but particularly Albert, had a marked gift for the selection of talented subordinates." In 1863 the company moved to a new site in Sheffield on the River Don in Brightside.

Vickers, Sons & Company

The company went public in 1867 as Vickers, Sons & Company and gradually acquired more businesses, branching out into various sectors. In 1868 Vickers began to manufacture marine shafts, in 1872 they began casting marine propellers and in 1882 they set up a forging press. Vickers produced their first

armour plate Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fight ...

in 1888 and their first artillery piece in 1890.

Vickers, Sons & Maxim

Vickers bought out the

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...

shipbuilder The Barrow Shipbuilding Company in 1897, acquiring its subsidiary the

Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company The Maxim-Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company was the result of a takeover by Hiram Maxim of Thorsten Nordenfelt's Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company in 1888. Rothschild issued £1.9 million of shares to finance the merger. Nathan Rothsc ...

at the same time, to become Vickers, Sons & Maxim. Ordnance and ammunition made during this period, including

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, was stamped V.S.M. The yard at Barrow became the "Construction Yard". With these acquisitions, Vickers could now produce a complete selection of products, from ships and marine fittings to armour plate and a whole suite of ordnance. In 1901 the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

's first submarine, ''

Holland 1 ''Holland 1'' (or ''HM submarine Torpedo Boat No 1'') is the first submarine commissioned by the Royal Navy. The first in a six-boat batch of the , she was lost in 1913 while under tow to be scrapped following her decommissioning. Recovered in ...

'', was launched at the Naval Construction Yard. In 1902 Vickers took a half share in the famous

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

shipyard

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of ...

. Further diversification occurred in 1901 with the acquisition of a proposed business which was incorporated as The Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company and in 1905 the goodwill and patent rights of the Siddeley car. In 1911 a controlling interest was acquired in

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

manufacturer Whitehead & Company.

Vickers Limited

In 1911 the company name was changed to Vickers Ltd and expanded its operations into aircraft manufacture by the formation of Vickers Ltd (Aviation Department) and a Vickers School of Flying was opened at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfie ...

, Surrey on 20 January 1912. In 1919, the British Westinghouse electrical company was taken over as the Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company; Metrovick. At the same time they came into Metropolitan's railway interests.

Reorganisation

A reorganisation during 1926 led to the retention of the rolling stock group: Metropolitan Carriage wagon and Finance Company and The Metropolitan -Vickers Company and the disposal of: Vickers-Petters Limited, British Lighting and Ignition Company, the Plywood department at Crayford Creek, Canadian Vickers, William Beardmore and Co, and Wolseley Motors.City Notes ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', 30 April 1927; p. 18; issue 44569.

Merger with Armstrong Whitworth

In 1927, Vickers merged with

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as publishe ...

based engineering company

Armstrong Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...

to become

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

. Armstrong Whitworth had developed along similar lines to Vickers, expanding into various military sectors and was notable for their artillery manufacture at Elswick and shipbuilding at a yard at

High Walker Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward in the south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. History The place-name 'Walker' is first attested in 1242, where it appears as ''Waucre''. This means 'wall-carr', that is to say, 'the marsh ...

on the River Tyne. Armstrongs shipbuilding interests became the "Naval Yard", those of Vickers on the west coast the "Naval Construction Yard".

Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company, or Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, was a British aircraft manufacturer. History Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft was established as the Aerial Department of the Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth & Company e ...

was not absorbed by the new company. In 1928, the Aviation Department became Vickers (Aviation) Ltd and soon after acquired

, which became the "Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd". In 1938, both companies were re-organised as Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd, although the former Supermarine and Vickers works continued to brand their products under their former names. 1929 saw the merger of the acquired railway business with those of Cammell Laird to form Metropolitan Cammell Carriage & Wagon.

Nationalisation

In 1960, the aircraft interests were merged with those of the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, English Electric and

Hunting Aircraft Hunting Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer that produced light training aircraft and the initial design that would evolve into the BAC 1-11 jet airliner. Founded as Percival Aircraft Co. in 1933, the company later moved to Luton, UK. ...

to form the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). This was owned by Vickers, English Electric and Bristol (holding 40%, 40% and 20% respectively). BAC in turn owned 70% of Hunting. The Supermarine operation was closed in 1963 and the Vickers name for aircraft was dropped in 1965. Under the terms of the

Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that nationalised large parts of the UK aerospace and shipbuilding industries and established two corporations, British Aerospace and British S ...

BAC was nationalised in 1977 to become part of

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...

, which exists today in the guise of BAE Systems. The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act also led to the nationalisation of Vickers' shipbuilding division as part of British Shipbuilders. These had been renamed Vickers Armstrong Shipbuilders in 1955, changing again to Vickers Limited Shipbuilding Group in 1968. This division was privatised as

Vickers Shipbuilding & Engineering Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, Ltd (VSEL) was a shipbuilding company based at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria in northwest England that built warships, civilian ships, submarines and armaments. The company was historically the Naval Construct ...

in 1986, later part of GEC's Marconi Marine. It remains in operation to this day as

BAE Systems Submarines BAE Systems Submarines,BAE Systems Submarine Solutions was split out from BAE Systems Marine and operated as such until January 2012. It was named BAE Systems Maritime - Submarines until 2017 before it became BAE Systems Submarines. is a whol ...

Vickers plc

With their steelworking operations also nationalised into

British Steel Corporation British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

the remnants of Vickers became

Vickers plc Vickers plc was the remainder of Vickers-Armstrongs after the nationalisation of three of its four operating groups: aviation (as a 50% share since 1960 of British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in 1977), shipbuilding ( Vickers Limited Shipbuilding ...

. In 1986, Vickers acquired the armaments manufacturer Royal Ordnance Factory,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, which became Vickers Defence Systems. Other acquisitions included automotive engineers Cosworth in 1990, waterjet manufacturer

Kamewa AB Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad (''trans.'' Karlstad Mechanical Works Ltd), known as Kamewa, was a Swedish manufacturing company in the city of Kristinehamn. Kamewa started as a brand name of the controllable-pitch propellers manufactured by KM ...

in 1986 and Norwegian marine propulsion and engineering company

Ulstein Ulstein is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The commercial and administrative centre of Ulstein is the town of Ulsteinvik. The municipality occupies the western half of the island of Hareid ...

in 1998. 1998 also saw the sale of Rolls-Royce Motors and Cosworth to

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercial ...

for £430 million, beating out BMW's offer of £340 million.

Current status of Vickers

In 1927, Vickers merged with the Tyneside-based engineering firm Armstrong Whitworth to form Vickers-Armstrongs. Armstrong Whitworth developed in a similar way to Vickers, expanding into various military fields and became famous for its artillery construction at Elswick and shipbuilding at its yard at High Walker upon Tyne. In 1928, the Aviation Department changed its name to Vickers (Aviation) Ltd and shortly afterwards acquired Supermarine, which became 'Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd'. In 1938, the two companies were reorganised as Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd, although the former Supermarine and Vickers works continued to brand their products under their former names. In 1929, the acquired railway business was merged with that of Cammell Laird to form Metropolitan Cammell Carriage & Wagon. 1.6 Fifth change of the company After the Second World War Vickers-Armstrongs manufactured commercial aircraft. In 1959 it introduced the VC10 jet aircraft, which is still in service with the Royal Air Force. In the same year the government forced a merger with Bristol Aeroplane Company, English Electric and Hunting Aircraft to form the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Alongside the achievements of BAC, the Hawker Siddeley Group were also experiencing success with the likes of the Hawker Harrier 'Jump Jet' and Hawker Siddeley Trident passenger aircraft. The two companies competed side by side for contracts throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, until the British Government expressed a desire for the two entities to merge. Finally, on 29 April 1977, the two companies were finally nationalised and a new company, British Aerospace Plc, emerged. The rail business acquired by Vickers was sold to Alstom in 1989.

Citations

External links

Companies House
accessed 22 June 2006
Vickers Air-raid Shelter

Vickers Photographic Archive

The Vickers company canteen at Crayford, Kent, expected to become a restaurant with flats above
{{Sheffield companies, state=collapsed Companies disestablished in 2004 Defunct companies of the United Kingdom Engine manufacturers of the United Kingdom Former defence companies of the United Kingdom History of the tank Manufacturing companies established in 1828 Marine engine manufacturers