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86-529: Royal Ordnance plc was bought by British Aerospace (BAe) in April 1987, which became BAE Systems in 1999. The name Royal Ordnance was retained for almost another twenty years; and the sites retained their former names, either as Royal Ordnance or later RO Defence sites. The Royal Ordnance name was dropped in 2004 and after having traded as Land Systems, the division is now known as Land UK. The Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) can trace their history back to 1560 with

172-414: A hot and cold rolled strip business with a downline in sintered products, reinforcement steels, wire fasteners and garage equipment. In 1973, GKN Steel exchanged the remaining assets at Dowlais along with £30 million in cash to the nationalised British Steel Corporation , in return for the previously nationalised Brymbo Steelworks . After acquiring steel stockholding competitor Miles Druce and Co, by 1974,

258-609: A merger had been reportedly agreed between British Aerospace Chairman Richard Evans and DASA CEO Jürgen Schrempp in December 1998. However, when the British General Electric Company (GEC) put its defence electronics business Marconi Electronic Systems (MES) up for sale on 22 December 1998, BAe's management opted to abandon the DASA merger in favour of purchasing its British rival. During 2004, Evans stated that his fear

344-520: A move described by The Independent as "one of the most spectacular and brutal boardroom coups witnessed in many years." Evans described the troubles as a confluence of events: "our property company [Arlington Securities] was hit with a lousy market. Sales of the Rover Group sank by about a fifth and losses mounted. The government's defence spending volumes underwent a major review. Losses in our commercial aerospace division increased dramatically with

430-582: A stainless steel leading edge, giving it different flex characteristics from the AV-8B. In December 1989, the first RAF squadron to be equipped with the Harrier II was declared operational. In 1979, BAe officially joined the multinational aircraft manufacturer Airbus and acquired a 20% share in the venture, the move effectively reversed a decision made ten years prior in which the UK government had withdrawn its support for

516-521: A subsidiary named J. W. Garrington, which specialised in forgings; the forgings produced at the Garrington Darlaston plant, later supplemented by a large plant at Bromsgrove , enabled GKN to become a major supplier of crankshafts , connecting rods, half-shafts and numerous smaller forged components to the UK auto-industry, which had a period of massive expansion during the interwar period and beyond. Another company, eventually acquired by GKN,

602-574: A temporary collaboration to produce a single design as per its original mission statement; it had become a long-term brand for the development of further aircraft. By the late 1980s, work had begun on a pair of new wide-body airliners, the biggest to be produced at this point under the Airbus name; these would be launched in the 1990s as the Airbus A330 and the Airbus A340 . During the 1983 Paris Air Show ,

688-720: A tendency to disintegrate after hitting roadside kerbs, Sankey developed a pioneering pressed-steel wheel. Production started in 1908, with customers including Austin Motor Company and, later, William Morris . In addition to Sankey's original factory at Bilston , a new plant was established near Wellington, Shropshire , which was devoted to wheel production and known as GKN Sankey. Meanwhile, by 1914, GKN's customers for sheet-steel vehicle bodies had also come to include Austin, along with Daimler , Humber , Rover , Star and Argyll . After John Lysaght acquired Joseph Sankey and Sons Ltd, GKN purchased both companies, in 1920. By

774-408: A time when the domestic industry was seen to be stumbling, in response to bewildering "Government interference and fiscal short-sightedness", with British new car registrations in the first four months of 1969 a massive 33% down on the corresponding period of the previous year. As a result of the large number of mergers, Abram Games was commissioned to develop a new corporate identity in 1969 when

860-640: A £8.1 billion deal. The company's name is the initials of three early figures in its history: John Guest , Arthur Keen , and Joseph Henry Nettlefold . All three were key figures in the field of iron and steel during the Industrial Revolution . Ivor Guest sold the Dowlais Iron Company in Wales to Arthur Keen and Windsor Richards of Birmingham's Patent Nut and Bolt Company in June 1900. They combined

946-516: The BAe 146 , a short-haul regional airliner that had been previously worked on by Hawker Siddeley. The company marketed it as a quiet and economic turbofan -powered compact airliner that could replace the previous generation of turboprop -powered feeder aircraft. In 1982, the first completed aircraft made its first flight. Upon its launch into service the following year, it was hailed as being "the world's quietest jetliner". In 1993, an upgraded model of

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1032-717: The Honda Aircraft Company picked GKN to produce the whole composite fuselage of its Honda HA-420 HondaJet at the latter's facility in Alabama . In late 2012, it opened a new composite manufacturing facility in Mexicali , Mexico . During the same year, GKN was contracted to provide fuselage components for the Bell 525 Relentless helicopter. During January 2018, Melrose Industries announced plans to purchase GKN and its restructuring thereafter; that same month, GKN's management rejected

1118-580: The Lockheed Martin X-35 Joint Strike Fighter team. The following year, BAe acquired the UK operations of Siemens Plessey Systems (SPS) from Siemens , while DASA purchased SPS' German assets. In the 1990s, BAe was the largest exporter based in the United Kingdom; a Competition Commission report released in 2005 calculated a ten-year aggregate figure of £45 billion, with defence sales accounting for approximately 80%. In

1204-542: The Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS) consortium. UKAMS would become a wholly owned subsidiary of BAe Dynamics in 1998. In 1995, Saab Military Aircraft and BAe signed an agreement for the joint development and marketing of the export version of the JAS 39 Gripen . In 1996, BAe and Matra Defense agreed to merge their missile businesses into a joint venture called Matra BAe Dynamics . In 1997, BAe joined

1290-556: The Sema Group . BAe acquired Sema's 50% share in 1998. That year also saw BAe begin to experience major difficulties. BAe saw its share price fall below 100p for the first time. On 9 September 1991, the company issued a profits warning and later that week "bungled" the launch of a £432 million rights issue . On 25 September 1991 BAe directors led by CEO Richard Evans ousted the Chairman Professor Sir Roland Smith in

1376-639: The Trident jet airliner for a short time. Similarly, low-rate production of the BAC One-Eleven jet airliner, the Strikemaster two-seat military jet trainer/attack aircraft, and the iconic Concorde supersonic airliner also continued. On 29 July 1976, less than a year prior to BAe's formation, the contract for production of the first batch of the Panavia Tornado , an advanced nuclear-capable fighter bomber,

1462-739: The War Office , from the Ministry of Munitions to the Department of the Master-General of the Ordnance . As World War II loomed, a further 40 ROFs were built by the Ministry of Supply , from the late 1930s into the 1940s, employed around 300,000 personnel. The number of factory sites and personnel employed shrank considerably after the end of the Second World War. As part of its privatisation process in

1548-533: The vertical integration fashionable at the time embracing activities from coal and ore extraction, and iron and steel making to manufacturing finished goods. After the First World War , it became apparent that Britain was likely to follow France and the United States in developing a large scale automotive industry. During 1919, GKN acquired another fastener manufacturer, F. W. Cotterill Ltd. Cotterill owned

1634-435: The "Goat Mill", the world's most powerful rolling mill . By the mid-1860s, Clark's reforms had borne fruit in renewed profitability . Clark delegated day-to-day management to Menelaus, his trusteeship terminating in 1864 when ownership passed to Sir Ivor Guest . Clark continued to direct policy, building a new plant at the docks at Cardiff and vetoing a joint-stock company . He formally retired in 1897. On 9 July 1900,

1720-524: The 1960s, GKN was manufacturing many other kinds of automotive components, including chassis for the Triumph Herald and its derivatives. The company also developed the GKN FV432 armoured personnel carrier. By 1969, the highly-automated GKN Wheels Wellington plant was producing over 5½ million wheels per year, with a maximum rate of approximately 30,000 units per day. The postwar government nationalised

1806-588: The 1980s, GKN Steel reduced its presence in the steel sector, selling off or shutting down its works. GKN Steel renamed itself GKN during 1986 to indicate its shift away from steel production. Business activities were re-orientated around the aerospace, automotive and industrial services markets. In 1994, GKN purchased Westland Aircraft . The company later organised a joint venture of Westland's helicopter interests with Agusta to form AgustaWestland and its sale to Italian defense firm Finmeccanica . During November 1995, Dana Corporation purchased GKN's axle group;

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1892-814: The 1980s, the UK Government transferred some of the, formerly separate, research and development capability of the Defence Research Establishments into the ROFs. Other parts of the UK's defence research and design capability were later closed down; remained with the UK Ministry of Defence , later to become Dstl ; or became part of the privatised QinetiQ . The small number of ROFs involved in nuclear weapons production, ROF Burghfield and ROF Cardiff , were removed from ROF management and did not pass over to Royal Ordnance upon privatisation. They were transferred to

1978-434: The 1990s, GKN completed a series of large acquisitions and industrial consolidations. During 1994, the firm acquired the helicopter manufacturing business of Westland Aircraft . In 1998, GKN's armoured vehicle business was sold to Alvis plc ; this division was subsequently incorporated into Alvis Vickers Ltd . During November 1995, associate Dana Corporation purchased GKN's axle group; at that time, GKN held 34% of

2064-567: The 2010s, there was strong demand for GKN's aerostructures; earlier, the company had secured manufacturing contracts to produce elements of the Boeing 787 , Airbus A350 XWB , Airbus A400M Atlas , and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II , in addition to numerous other aircraft. During early 2011, it was announced that GKN and EADS would cooperate on developing radical additive layer manufacturing technology for aerospace purposes. That same year,

2150-553: The 500th aircraft to be completed was delivered to West Germany on 19 December 1987. Production of the Tornado ended in 1998, the final batch being delivered to the Royal Saudi Air Force , that had ordered a total of 96 IDS Tornados. Aviation author Jon Lake noted that "The Trinational Panavia Consortium produced just short of 1,000 Tornados, making it one of the most successful postwar bomber programs". In 1978, BAe relaunched

2236-499: The Airbus consortium. Airbus' first aircraft, the A300 , had been received with little initial demand, but orders for the airliner had picked up in the late 1970s. By 1979, the consortium had 256 orders for A300, and Airbus had launched its second airliner, the A310 , less than 12 months prior to BAe formally joining the consortium. As time went on, it was becoming clear that Airbus was no longer

2322-557: The BAe 146, referred to as the Avro RJ series, superseded the original; changes included the replacement of the original Lycoming ALF 502 turbofan engines by higher-thrust LF 507 turbofan engines, which were housed in redesigned nacelles . The Avro RJ series also featured a modernised cockpit with EFIS replacing the analogue ADI, HSI, and engine instrumentation. Production of the Avro RJ ended with

2408-525: The Dowlais Iron Company and Arthur Keen 's Patent Nut and Bolt Company merged to form Guest, Keen & Co. Ltd . Nettlefolds Limited , a leading manufacturer of fasteners, established in Smethwick , West Midlands in 1854, was acquired in 1902, leading to the change of name to Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds (GKN). In 1920 John Lysaght and Co. was acquired. Steel production remained at

2494-683: The Land Systems business group to create BAE Systems Land and Armaments. These two mergers and expansions meant that the former Royal Ordnance sites were renamed as BAE Systems Land and Armaments. British Aerospace British Aerospace plc ( BAe ) was a British aircraft , munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire . It purchased Marconi Electronic Systems ,

2580-501: The London Stock Exchange. GKN Aerospace continues to be owned by Melrose plc. Throughout the majority of the twentieth century, though steel production remained the core of GKN it branched into tooling and component manufacturing. It was deeply impacted by government policies during the latter half of the century, during which Britain's steel industry was subject to multiple nationalisation and privatisation efforts. During

2666-849: The MOD regarding future procurement strategies. The financial position of the company was resolved by a Treasury cash injection and the proceeds of the ROF Leeds sale. The liabilities were with regard to a sub-contract for a missile systems between British Aerospace (BAe) and an MOD research establishment transferred to Royal Ordnance on Incorporation ; BAe and the MOD reached agreement in February 1987. Bids for Royal Ordnance plc were invited in October 1986, resulting in six offers. These were eventually reduced to two; one from British Aerospace and one from Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds (GKN). The £188.5 million GBP BAe offer

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2752-641: The UK Government allowed the transaction to proceed in April 2018; Melrose agreed to comply with several national security measures. Since the takeover by Melrose plc, the GKN legacy group of businesses were decentralised in a move toward maximizing profitable sales in favour of focusing on pure growth of sales numbers. By the end of 2019, GKN had been restructured into three core divisions: GKN Aerospace, GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy. On 9 July 2021, 422 workers of GKN's factory in Florence , Italy were notified that

2838-608: The airframe's work-share in terms of man-hours. Production took place at McDonnell Douglas' facilities in suburban St Louis , Missouri , and manufacturing by BAe at its Kingston and Dunsfold facilities in Surrey , England. The variant procured for the RAF, which was known as the BAe Harrier II , featured many differences, including avionics fit, armaments and equipment; the wing of the GR5 featured

2924-594: The automotive field in 1966 GKN bought BRD's much larger competitor, Birfield Ltd, which held the great bulk of the British market for CVJs, constant velocity joints, and was a company that since 1938 had incorporated both the Sheffield based Laycock Engineering later best known as a postwar overdrive manufacturer, and Hardy Spicer Limited of Birmingham , England, also a manufacturer of constant-velocity joints . Historically, such joints had few applications, even following

3010-616: The basis for the multinational Eurofighter Typhoon . In 1986, in conjunction Alenia Aeronautica , CASA and DASA , BAe formed Eurofighter GmbH for the development and production of the Eurofighter. The multinational organisation's head office was established in Hallbergmoos , Bavaria, Germany. The maiden flight of the Eurofighter prototype took place in Bavaria on 27 March 1994, flown by DASA chief test pilot Peter Weger. On 30 January 1998,

3096-677: The board or company. British Aerospace inherited a number of live development programmes from its predecessors. Scottish Aviation was working on a project for a 19-seat turboprop airliner, an upgraded version of the Handley Page Jetstream . BAe placed the Jetstream 31 into production after the first flight of the prototype in March 1980. At the same time, production of Hawker Siddeley's HS 125 business jet, Harrier VTOL jet fighter and HS 748 turboprop airliner continued under BAe, as did that of

3182-469: The committee concludes that the sale to BAe may well have been the best solution for the government." In 1991, BAe acquired a 30% interest in Hutchison Telecommunications through a stock swap deal, where Hutchison was given a controlling stake of 65% in BAe's wholly owned subsidiary Microtel Communications Ltd . In August 1991, BAe formed a naval systems joint venture, BAeSEMA , with

3268-555: The company fired-up the single remaining blast furnace at Dowlais. During the Second World War , all of the sites were heavily bombed by Nazi Germany 's Luftwaffe , and the required investment meant that all of these assets were nationalised as part of the Iron and Steel Act 1949, resultantly becoming part of the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain . GKN were still highly reliant on

3354-429: The company was in possession of a full integrated steel production and manufacturing business. By the late 1980s, in the face of extensive competition from Japanese firms in both the axle and constant velocity joint business, GKN Steel decided to start selling off its steel and fasteners businesses. By 1991, the firm had disposed of all of the assets within these two business lines. GKN Steel's withdrawal coincidence with

3440-490: The company, during which the public sale was 3.5 times subscribed and at the end of the first day's trading, share prices were 14% above the original offer price. The second phase occurred in May 1985, in which 48.4% shares were sold; this sale was 5.4 times subscribed and the first day closing price was 11% above the initial offer price. The British Government maintained a £1 golden share , which allowed it to veto foreign control of

3526-620: The construction of MI5 's Thames House and MI6 's Vauxhall Cross headquarters has been released, but the Al Yamamah report is still deemed too sensitive. The 2007 documentary film Welcome Aboard Toxic Airlines contained evidence that vital data was withheld from a 1999–2000 Australian Senate Inquiry into the health and flight safety issues relating to oil fumes on the British Aerospace 146 . The film also contains an Australian Senator's speech about money being paid by BAe for silence on

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3612-553: The control of AWRE; which later became the Atomic Weapons Establishment . On 2 January 1985, vesting day , the twelve ROFs that still remained open, plus the Waltham Abbey South site, RSAF Enfield and three agency factories, became a UK government-owned company: Royal Ordnance plc . Its headquarters was moved to ROF Chorley , Lancashire ; with its registered office located in central London. The intention of

3698-458: The core of the company, but under increasing profit margin pressure. In 1930, the company combined its steel production business with that of rival Baldwins to form Guest Keen Baldwins , which now held: In 1935, the company demolished the Cardiff works to construct a new production facility on the same site, funded by an issue of debentures . Due to a resultant global shortage of pig iron, in 1937,

3784-399: The death of founder Tony Vandervell in 1967, GKN acquired the lucrative Maidenhead -based Vandervell bearing manufacturer that was at the time exporting more than 50% of its output to overseas vehicle manufacturers. This was part of a larger trend for GKN that during this period, under its Managing Director Raymond Brookes , was working to reduce its dependence on UK auto-maker customers at

3870-597: The defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company , in 1999 to form BAE Systems . The company has its origins in the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 , which called for the nationalisation and merger of the British Aircraft Corporation , Hawker Siddeley Aviation , Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Scottish Aviation . On 29 April 1977, the new entity

3956-447: The distinctive angular GKN symbol was created and the new company colours of blue and white introduced. In 1974, GKN acquired Kirkstall Forge Engineering , a manufacturer of truck axles in Leeds . By 1968, GKN Steel had recreated its downline business, and started to build its upline business through aggressive building of a steel stockholding business. In 1972, it acquired Firth Cleveland,

4042-499: The expansion of Volvo Aero's range of engine component production range via GKN's experience in producing aerostructures. In October 2015, GKN acquired Dutch aerospace company Fokker Technologies through a €706 million deal. GKN Aerospace chief Kevin Cummings stated that the Fokker purchase enhances GKN's global manufacturing footprint and brought new technology to the company. Throughout

4128-545: The final four aircraft being delivered in late 2003; a total of 173 Avro RJ aircraft was delivered between 1993 and 2003. BAe developed several advanced models of the Harrier family. In 1978, the Royal Navy received the first BAe Sea Harrier of an initial order for 24. The Sea Harrier was declared operational three years later, being initially embarked on both the first Invincible class aircraft carrier HMS Invincible , and

4214-549: The first production contract for the Eurofighter was signed between Eurofighter GmbH, engine manufacturer Eurojet and the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency , the organisation set up to manage the procurement of the aircraft. On 26 September 1985, the UK and Saudi Arabian governments signed the Al-Yamamah arms deal with BAe as prime contractor. The contracts, extended in the 1990s and never fully detailed, involved

4300-416: The former Prime Minister's son Mark Thatcher may have been involved; he has strongly denied receiving payments or exploiting his mother's connections in his business dealings. The National Audit Office investigated the contracts and has so far never released its conclusions – the only NAO report ever to be withheld. The BBC's Newsnight observed that it is ironic that the once classified report analysing

4386-885: The founding of the Royal Gunpowder Factory (RGPF) at Waltham Abbey, Essex . This was linked to the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) at Enfield Lock and the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich . All three were based near London — but not too close in case of explosion. The title of Royal Arsenal was introduced in 1805 to encompass the Royal Laboratories, Royal Gun Factory, and the Royal Carriage, which were originally separate and based in Greenwich . In 1927 these three Royal Factories were transferred, within

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4472-520: The fumes issue. GKN plc GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch , England. It was a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds . It can trace its origins back to 1759 and the birth of the Industrial Revolution . In 2018 GKN plc was acquired by Melrose Industries plc in a hostile takeover. Melrose divested GKN Automotive and GKN Powder Metallurgy in 2023 and listed them as Dowlais Group on

4558-451: The government at this stage was to privatise Royal Ordnance as soon as possible through a stock market flotation. In mid-1985 a target date of July 1986 was set; however, by June 1986 the government announced that flotation would not be possible and that it intended to sell the company privately. The following problems were identified as barriers to a flotation: The problems associated with ROF Leeds were solved when Royal Ordnance agreed

4644-410: The improved design proposed by Alfred H. Rzeppa in 1936. However, in 1959, Alec Issigonis had developed the revolutionary Mini motor car that relied on the Hardy Spicer joints for its front wheel drive technology. The massive expansion in the exploitation of front wheel drive in the 1970s and 1980s led to the acquisition of other similar businesses and a 43% share of the world market by 2002. On

4730-405: The initial bid made. In March 2018, Melrose submitted a revised £8.1 billion bid for the company; this bid was controversial and was subject to criticism, being branded by some press agencies as a hostile takeover. Melrose's offer received shareholder support and was accepted. Following a formal review of the purchase, including of various objections put forward by GKN workers and trade unions ,

4816-442: The late 1990s, European defence consolidation became a prevailing practice; European governments wished to see the merger of their defence manufacturers into a single entity, a European Aerospace and Defence Company. This ambition led to numerous reports linking various European defence groups – mainly with each other but also with American defence contractors. In July 1998, merger discussions began between BAe and DASA. Terms for such

4902-415: The launch of the Experimental Aircraft Programme (EAP) to develop and fly an advanced fighter technology demonstrator was announced; at this point, the effort was intended to be a partnership between Britain and several of its European neighbours, including West Germany and Italy. The resulting aircraft, the British Aerospace EAP , ended up being primarily developed by BAe as a private venture; it formed

4988-405: The lucrative defence market of the United States. The newly combined company, which was initially referred to as "New British Aerospace", was officially formed on 30 November 1999; it is named BAE Systems . There have been allegations that the Al Yamamah contracts were a result of bribes ("douceurs") to members of the Saudi royal family and government officials. Some allegations suggested that

5074-421: The older HMS Hermes . Following their decisive role in the 1982 Falklands War , several of the lessons learnt from the conflict shaped a new upgrade programme for the fleet authorised in 1984, resulting in the Sea Harrier FRS.2 (later known as FA2 ). The first flight of the prototype took place in September 1988 and a contract was signed for 29 upgraded aircraft in December of that year. The Sea Harrier FA2

5160-440: The recession in the airline industry." In mid-1992, BAe wrote off £1 billion of assets, largely as part of redundancies and restructuring of its regional aircraft division. This was the largest asset write-off in UK corporate history. General Electric Company (GEC), later to sell its defence interests to BAe, came close to acquiring BAe at this time. BAe cut 47% of its workforce (60,000 out of 127,000), 40,000 of which were from

5246-482: The regional aircraft division. Evans decided to sell non-core business activities, which included the Rover Group, Arlington Securities, BAe Corporate Jets, BAe Communications and Ballast Nedam . Although the rationale of diversification was sound (to shield the company from cyclical aerospace and defence markets) the struggling company could not afford to continue the position: "We simply could not afford to carry two core businesses, cars and aerospace. At one point Rover

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5332-436: The reputation of being "one of the World's great industrial concerns". Though the Bessemer process was licensed in 1856, nine years of detailed planning and project management were needed before the first steel was produced. The company thrived with its new cost-effective production methods, forming alliances with the Consett Iron Company and Krupp . By 1857, G.T. Clark and William Menelaus, his manager, had constructed

5418-400: The sale of the factory and intellectual property rights of the Challenger tanks to Vickers plc on 4 October 1986, the final agreement was signed on 31 March 1987 valuing ROF Leeds at £15.2 million. Vickers became Alvis Vickers and, in 2004, became part of BAE Systems, and the Leeds factory was closed. The relationship with the MOD was resolved by certain guarantees given to the company by

5504-409: The sites. In 2002 Heckler & Koch was sold to Heckler and Koch Beteiligungs GmbH . In 2004 BAE Systems acquired Alvis Vickers Ltd , which was merged with the RO Defence business and ex-GEC plants at Barrow-in-Furness and Leicester to form BAE Systems Land Systems. This organisation was further expanded in 2005 when BAE Systems took over the US company United Defense Industries and added it to

5590-513: The small arms ammunition interests of Heckler & Koch . In 2000 the headquarters of Royal Ordnance was moved from RO Chorley to BAE Systems' Filton site, and manufacturing ceased at RO Bishopton . In 1999 BAE merged with Marconi Electronic Systems , the defence interests of GEC , at the same time changing its name from British Aerospace to BAE Systems. The Royal Ordnance sites were from then onwards treated as BAE Systems owned sites with Royal Ordnance regarded as business units operating from

5676-476: The steel industry under Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain . The act of parliament of 1949 took effect in February 1951. In 1951, a new subsidiary Blade Research & Development (BRD) was formed at Aldridge , Staffordshire , to produce aero-engine turbine blades. Following a fall in demand for turbine blades in the late 1950s, the BRD factory switched to producing constant-velocity joints and driveshafts for vehicles. In 1953, Britain's steel industry

5762-455: The supply of Panavia Tornado strike and air defence aircraft, BAe Hawk trainer jets, Rapier missile systems, infrastructure works and naval vessels. The Al Yamamah deals are valued at anything up to £20 billion and still continue to provide a large percentage of BAE Systems' profits. BAe acquired Royal Ordnance , the British armaments manufacturer, for £190 million on 22 April 1987. The German armaments specialist Heckler & Koch

5848-424: The supply of good quality steel thus, in 1954, the business negotiated from the asset realisation company the repurchase of key assets from ISC, which were renamed Guest Keen Iron and Steel Co. In 1961, the company's name was changed again to GKN Steel Company . These mergers heralded half a century in which GKN became a major manufacturer of screws , nuts , bolts and other fasteners . The company reflected

5934-543: The topic of merging their helicopter operations; French aerospace conglomerate Aérospatiale had also reportedly made its own approaches around this time. In July 2000, GKN and Finmeccanica announced an agreement to merge their respective helicopter subsidiaries, Westland and Agusta respectively, to form AgustaWestland . On 20 May 2004, GKN confirmed that it was holding discussions to sell its 50% shareholding in AgustaWestland to Finmeccanica. The sale of this stake in exchange for £1 billion ($ 1.79 billion) from Finmeccanica

6020-444: The two businesses and formed Guest, Keen & Co. Limited on 1 November 1900. A little over twelve months later, Guest Keen & Co bought and amalgamated Nettlefolds Limited into their new combine giving it the style Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds Limited . The origins of GKN lie in the founding of the Dowlais Ironworks in the village of Dowlais , Merthyr Tydfil , Wales , by Thomas Lewis and Isaac Wilkinson . John Guest

6106-461: The two firms continued to operate joint ventures in the field for many years. During the early 2000s, it took over Tochigi Fuji Sangyo K.K, a Japanese manufacturer of differentials and driveline torque systems. During December 2011, GKN Aerospace Engineering services division was sold to product engineering firm Quest Global. In 2012, GKN acquired the Swedish aerospace engine specialist Volvo Aero . During 2018, Melrose Industries acquired GKN with

6192-542: The wider closure of multiple steelworks and heavy industries across Britain, which caused considerable social disruption in some areas at the time, thus becoming a topic of political debate. In 1989, GKN Steel's factory at Bilston , in the West Midlands , was permanently closed and subsequently demolished. Having disposed of its steel production asset, the company renamed itself GKN in 1986. The firm focused on military vehicles, aerospace and industrial services. During

6278-542: The world market for constant velocity joints. Around this same time period, GKN acquired larger shares of its other driveline joint ventures with Dana in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. From the late 1990s, the company built up a major global business in powder metallurgy , which operates as the GKN Powdered Metallurgy group. During early 1998, GKN and Italian aerospace company Finmeccanica commenced discussions on

6364-399: Was "day one" for the new company, which became the world's second-largest aerospace company after Boeing and the second-largest European arms manufacturer after BAE Systems. The GEC merger to create a solely British company, compared to the prospective Anglo-German company that would have resulted from merging with DASA, was promoted as having superior prospects for further penetration of

6450-479: Was accepted, and the sale was completed on 22 April 1987. At the time of the sale, RO Defence had 16 factories; and some 19,000 personnel were employed. Shortly after privatisation, it has closed and sold its sites at ROF Patricroft , RSAF Enfield and Waltham Abbey South. In April 1992 BAe / RO Defence bought BMARC and Poudreries Réunies de Belgique (PRB) from the receivers of the failed Astra Holdings ; and later Muiden Chemie . In 1991 RO Defence also bought

6536-479: Was acquired by product engineering firm Quest Global. The sale was accompanied by an agreement for QuestGlobal to provide engineering resources to GKN Aerospace; this cooperation was presented as a long-term strategy. In July 2012, GKN agreed to acquire the Swedish aerospace components manufacturer Volvo Aero from AB Volvo for £633 million (US$ 986 million). The takeover was seen as presenting good opportunities for

6622-481: Was appointed manager of the works in 1767, having moved from Broseley . In 1786, Guest was succeeded by his son, Thomas Guest, who formed the Dowlais Iron Company with his son-in-law William Taitt. Guest introduced many innovations and the works prospered. Under Guest's leadership, alongside his manager John Evans, and after his death in 1852 that of his wife Lady Charlotte Guest , the Dowlais Ironworks gained

6708-403: Was de-nationalised by a new government; this policy only lasted for 14 years before being reversed. At the end of April 1965, the recently elected Labour government published a White Paper proposing the nationalisation of 90 per cent, by output, of Britain's steel industry. GKN Steel was transferred to public ownership at the end of July 1967. Beginning a programme of diversification into

6794-567: Was eating up about £2 billion of our banking capacity." BAe Corporate Jets and Arkansas Aerospace were sold to Raytheon in 1993. In 1994, the Rover Group was sold to BMW and British Aerospace Space Systems was sold to Matra Marconi Space . In 1998, BAe's shareholding of Orange plc was reduced to 5%. The Orange shareholding was a legacy of the 30% stake in Hutchison Telecommunications (UK) Ltd. In 1994, BAeSEMA, Siemens Plessey and GEC-Marconi formed UKAMS Limited as part of

6880-868: Was finalised later that year. In 2002, GKN acquired a significant stake in – and by 2004 took over the whole concern of – the Japanese manufacturer of differentials and driveline torque systems Tochigi Fuji Sangyo K.K, based in Tochigi, Tochigi . GKN went on to acquire Monitor Aerospace Corp in Amityville, New York and Precision Machining in Wellington, Kansas in 2006, part of the Airbus plant at Filton near Bristol for £150 million in 2008 and all of Getrag 's axle business and axle manufacturing facilities in 2011. During December 2011, GKN Aerospace Engineering services division

6966-597: Was fitted with the Blue Vixen radar, which was described as one of the most advanced pulse doppler radar systems in the world. In August 1981, BAe and the American aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II . Under this agreement, BAe was effectively a subcontractor rather than a full partner, receiving 40 per cent of

7052-503: Was folded into this division after BAe acquired it four years later. In 1988, BAe purchased the Rover Group from the British government of Margaret Thatcher for £150 million. The sale was controversial due to opaque financial arrangements between the government and BAe; however the House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee was said to believe that "in spite of a catalogue of complaints,

7138-504: Was formed in the United Kingdom as a statutory corporation. Under the provisions of the British Aerospace Act 1980 (c. 26), on 1 January the statutory corporation was transferred to a limited company, which then re-registered as a public limited company (plc), under the name "British Aerospace Public Limited Company", on 2 January 1981. BAe was privatised in two main phases, the first in February 1981, involving 51.6% shares of

7224-426: Was founded by another steel manufacturing entrepreneur, Joseph Sankey . After training as a mechanical engineer in the late 19th century, Sankey founding a company that became a major producer of tea trays . A pioneering motorist, Sankey became friends with figures such as Herbert Austin , and was also a supplier of sheet steel components to the nascent British car industry. Because the wooden wheels on early cars had

7310-456: Was signed. It was developed and produced via a multinational company, Panavia Aircraft GmbH , of which BAe was one of several companies to be heavily involved. On 10 July 1979, the maiden flight of a production Tornado occurred. On 5 and 6 June 1979, the first aircraft were delivered to the RAF and German Air Force respectively. On 25 September 1981, the first Italian Tornado was delivered. The Tornado would be produced in large numbers,

7396-586: Was that an American defence contractor would acquire MES and challenge both British Aerospace and DASA. Schrempp was angered by BAe's reversal, and opted to pursue other partner companies for DASA to merge with. On 11 June 1999, the Spanish aircraft company CASA a memorandum of understanding for such a merger. On 14 October 1999, DASA agreed to merge with Aérospatiale-Matra to create the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). 10 July 2000

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