Vickers plc

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For other companies of the same name, see Vickers.

Vickers plc
Vickers-Armstrongs
SubsidiariesVickers Defence Systems
Cosworth

Vickers plc was the remainder of

Rolls-Royce plc in 1999, and the Vickers company name became defunct in 2003 as Rolls renamed the company Vinters Engineering.[1]

History

The company was created in 1977 from the rump of Vickers-Armstrongs following the nationalisation of its aviation, shipbuilding and steel businesses. The name was first used by the Vickers family for Vickers Limited – at first a Sheffield steel foundry and later a manufacturing conglomerate – from 1867 to 1927.[2]

During the 1980s the company acquired businesses in the automotive engineering sector (principally

Kamewa and Ulstein).[3]

Rolls-Royce plc purchased Vickers plc for £576 million in 1999 for its marine engineering businesses.[4]
In 2002, Vickers Defence Systems was purchased by
Alvis Vickers. In 2003, Rolls-Royce renamed its Vickers subsidiaries Vinters plc.[5]
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

BAE Systems Land and Armaments Group.[6]

Businesses

Automotive engineering

The Vickers plant in Cross Gates, Leeds, 2009

In 1980, Vickers plc acquired

GEC (EE's parent company). In 1990, the Cosworth
automotive engineering group was purchased.

Vickers divested its automotive interests in 1998, selling Cosworth and Rolls-Royce Motors to

Rolls-Royce plc
.

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 tank into Vickers' portfolio. Vickers would later develop this into the Challenger 2, the current main battle tank of the British Army 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 BAE Systems.

Marine engineering

Since 1970, Vickers had been the parent of the Scottish

Kamewa, 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.[8]

References

  1. ^ "VINTERS ENGINEERING LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK".
  2. ^ "Vickers". Graces Guide. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  3. ^ Vickers targets new military sector The Guardian, 3 September 1999
  4. ^ "Business: The Company File: Rolls-Royce to buy Vickers". 20 September 1999. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  5. ^ "Principal subsidiary undertakings" (PDF). Rolls-Royce Group. 31 December 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2004.
  6. ^ BAE Systems to buy US rival UDI BBC, 7 March 2005
  7. ^ "Brown Brothers and Co". Graces Guide. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  8. ^ Rolls-Royce Marine

External links

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