How British Aerospace took flight in its early days

It was in that year the North of England Railway Carriage and Iron Company established a works at Strand Road, Preston. In 1897, Dick, Kerr and Company acquired the factory for the manufacture of trams.

Across the road, another factory was built in 1899, by the English Electric Manufacturing Company Ltd to make electrical equipment for tramways and railways.

In 1903, Dick Kerr and Company took control of English Electric and, two years later, United Electric Car Company – a new firm – was formed.

Production of trams continued at Strand Road until 1914 when war work was allocated to the factory, including the production of guns and shells.

In 1917, some aircraft work was undertaken by Dick, Kerr’s, with the Felixstowe Flying boat built at Preston but assembled at South Shields. Later craft were assembled in a hangar at Lytham, using the River Ribble for taxying and flight testing.

In December 1918, the English Electric Company Ltd was formed to amalgamate Dick, Kerr and Company and its subsidiaries. A design office was set up in London and aircraft started to be included in the new company’s list of wares. John Pybus – who previously directed Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company which produced motors – was appointed managing director.

And in November 1919, English Electric bought the Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works Ltd, an electrical engineering and manufacturing company from London.

Life after the First World War proved difficult for English Electric – as there wasn’t a post-war boom in electrical generation. Potential customers and clients of the company were struggling to raise the necessary capital funds, despite the company’s products being in high demand.

This resulted in a drastic reorganisation of the company, which saw overheads cut by half.

This wasn’t the end of English Electric’s financial struggle – 1926 saw the general strike and the miners’ strike, which caused big losses to the company. By the end of 1929, English Electric had a financial restructure, which brought in new capital from Lazard brother and Company Bankers, in America, to 
re-equip with new plant and machinery.

In June 1930, four new directors were appointed. The fresh faces decided to go into an American Arrangement with Westinghouse International and Electrical Company. This meant the companies could exchange information on steam turbines and electrical apparatus, but also that Westinghouse had to provide further capital to English Electric.

1933 was the first year English Electric made any real progress. It could now afford to pay dividends to shareholders – with George Nelson as chairman – and towards the end of the year, their production rate was more than double what it was at the start.

The company’s initial flirtation with aircraft construction didn’t last long and it disbanded its aircraft department – aircraft manufacturing lasted at the Preston factory until 1926, when all production activities ceased. Only three of the types of aircraft it designed in the 20s were actually built and just two of those were ever flown.

There was some success with the Kingston anti-submarine and coastal patrol flying boat. Five Kingstons were built at Preston and assembled and flown at Lytham.

The company shifted its focus instead to its heavy engineering and electrical interests, until the Second World War, when the Preston factory was called on by the Government to turn its manufacturing skills over to aircraft production.

Meanwhile, work had begun on a new air base at Warton, in 1940, which became home to 20,000 US servicemen and later was used by several small RAF units.

During 1939, English Electric constructed a ‘shadow’ factory and a new airfield at Samlesbury.

Well-known bombers, the Handley-Page Hampden and the Halifax, were leaving Samlesbury at a rate of up to 80 per month during the Second World War, while secret plans were also being made for the next big aircraft, which would be jet-propelled. The first of the English Electric-built, jet-propelled, Vampires flew out of Samlesbury in 1945.

In 1947, the Aircraft Division of English Electric was formally established, with design activity moved to Warton. The following year, around 100 people arrived at Warton to make preparations for the final assembly and testing of the new Canberra bomber.

The Canberra made its maiden flight, from Warton, in May 1949.

Facilities expanded and the company grew, with the next product, the Lightning, making its first flight in April 1957. In 1960, the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) was formed, by Government decree, with English Electric a founder member.

Warton’s role continued to grow and, throughout the 60s, BAC’s Preston Division was also involved in the production of the successful Jet Provost trainers for the Royal Air Force and its export version, the Strikemaster.

The 60s was also a time of international collaboration, with BAC working on the Jaguar and Tornado.

BAC became part of British Aerospace in 1977.

In February 1981, the Government sold 51 per cent of the shares in British Aerospace, in order to return the company to private ownership. The remaining shares were sold in April 1985, but the Government retained a single £1 “Golden share” that would allow it to veto any possibility of foreign ownership.

In 1999, British Aerospace merged with Marconi Electronic Systems to form BAE Systems.