Vickers plc was the remainder of

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 ...

after the nationalisation of three of its four operating groups: aviation (as a 50% share since 1960 of

British Aircraft Corporation The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Hunting Aircraft in 19 ...

(BAC) in 1977), shipbuilding ( Vickers Limited Shipbuilding Group in 1977) and steel. It was purchased 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 ...

in 1999, and the Vickers company name became defunct in 2003 as Rolls renamed the company Vinters Engineering.

History

The company was created in 1977 from the rump of

following the nationalisation of its aviation, shipbuilding and steel businesses. The name was first used by the Vickers family for

Vickers Limited Vickers Limited was a British engineering conglomerate. The business began in Sheffield in 1828 as a steel foundry and became known for its church bells, going on to make shafts and propellers for ships, armour plate and then artillery. Entir ...

– at first a Sheffield steel foundry and later a manufacturing conglomerate – from 1867 to 1927. During the 1980s the company acquired businesses in the automotive engineering sector (principally

Rolls-Royce Motors Rolls-Royce Motors was a British luxury car manufacturer, created in 1973 during the de-merger of the Rolls-Royce automotive business from the nationalised Rolls-Royce Limited. It produced luxury cars under the Rolls-Royce and Bentley brands. ...

), the defence sector (principally Royal Ordnance Factory Leeds) and the marine engineering sector (principally

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 ...

and Ulstein).

purchased Vickers plc for £576 million in 1999 for its marine engineering businesses. In 2002, Vickers Defence Systems was purchased by

Alvis plc Alvis PLC was created when United Scientific Holdings plc acquired the Alvis division of the nationalised vehicle manufacturer British Leyland in 1981. United Scientific maintained its own name until 1992 when the group was renamed Alvis plc. ...

to form the subsidiary

Alvis Vickers Alvis PLC was created when United Scientific Holdings plc acquired the Alvis division of the nationalised vehicle manufacturer British Leyland in 1981. United Scientific maintained its own name until 1992 when the group was renamed Alvis plc. ...

. In 2003, Rolls-Royce renamed its Vickers subsidiaries

Vinters plc Vinters is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Edgars Vinters (born 1919), Latvian painter * Jānis Vinters (born 1971), Latvian rally racing motorcycle rider and farmer See also * Vinter * Vintner A winemaker or vintner is a pe ...

. The Vickers name lived on in Alvis Vickers. In 2004, the board of the parent group Alvis approved a £309m takeover bid by the American defence company

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

. Within three months

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenue ...

, which already held a 29% stake, bid £355m for the company; this was seen as a defence of the home market from a foreign rival. The bid was accepted by the majority of shareholders. In September 2004, BAE announced the creation of

BAE Systems Land Systems BAE Systems Platforms & Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems Inc. and is a large provider of tracked and wheeled armored combat vehicles, naval guns, naval ship repair and modernization, artillery and missile launching systems, a ...

, a new company bringing together the BAE subsidiaries,

RO Defence BAE Systems Platforms & Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems Inc. and is a large provider of tracked and wheeled armored combat vehicles, naval guns, naval ship repair and modernization, artillery and missile launching systems, a ...

and Alvis Vickers, which saw the end of the Vickers name after 176 years. In 2005, the acquisition of

United Defense United Defense Industries (UDI) was an American defense contractor which became part of BAE Systems Land & Armaments after being acquired by BAE Systems in 2005. The company produced combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, missile launchers an ...

led to the creation of

BAE Systems Land and Armaments BAE Systems Platforms & Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems Inc. and is a large provider of tracked and wheeled armored combat vehicles, naval guns, naval ship repair and modernization, artillery and missile launching systems, ad ...

Group.

Businesses

Automotive engineering

In 1980, Vickers plc acquired

. This was not Vickers' first involvement with Rolls-Royce. In 1966,

Rolls-Royce Limited Rolls-Royce was a British luxury car and later an aero-engine manufacturing business established in 1904 in Manchester by the partnership of Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. Building on Royce's good reputation established with his cranes, they ...

(the original aero-engine and motor car company) acquired

Bristol Aeroplane The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aircraft engines. Notable a ...

for its

Bristol Siddeley Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd (BSEL) was a British aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited. In 1961 the company was expanded by the purchase of t ...

engine business, but declared it had no interest in Bristol's 20% shareholding in BAC;

Vickers Armstrong 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, wi ...

and

English Electric N.º UIC: 9094 110 1449-3 (Takargo Rail) The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, armistice of World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during th ...

(EE) each having 40% of BAC's shares. Despite this declaration, Rolls-Royce had not disposed of its BAC stake when the former was declared bankrupt in 1971. The 20% share was eventually acquired from receivership by Vickers and GEC (EE's parent company). In 1990, the

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotive industry, ...

automotive engineering group was purchased. Vickers divested its automotive interests in 1998, selling Cosworth and Rolls-Royce Motors 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 commercia ...

. The disposal of Rolls-Royce was a complicated affair, involving BMW and legal issues surrounding the use of trademarks which were shared with

Defence

In 1986, Royal Ordnance Factory Leeds was purchased and became the core of Vickers Defence Systems. These interests were primarily centred on land warfare products and brought the

Challenger 1 The FV4030/4 Challenger 1 is a British main battle tank (MBT) used by the British Army from 1983 to 2001, when it was superseded by the Challenger 2. It is also currently used by the Royal Jordanian Army as its main battle tank, after heavy ...

tank into Vickers' portfolio. Vickers would later develop this into the

Challenger 2 The FV4034 Challenger 2 (MOD designation "CR2") is a third generation British main battle tank (MBT) in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. It was designed and built by the British company Vickers Defence Systems (now known ...

, the current main battle tank of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

and Oman. In 1999 Reumech, owner of OMC, the South African defence company was purchased and renamed as Vickers OMC. In 2004, Vickers OMC was sold to

Marine engineering

Since 1970, Vickers had been the parent of the Scottish Brown Brothers group, which produced marine steering gear and stabilisers. In 1986, it purchased

, a Swedish manufacturer of waterjets, followed in 1998 by Ulstein (Norway), a major marine propulsion and engineering company. The companies were formed up as Vickers Ulstein Marine.Rolls-Royce Marine
/ref>

References

Companies House
Retrieved 22 June 2006

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vickers Plc Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Defence companies of the United Kingdom Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Scotswood British companies disestablished in 1999 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1999