Biography

Vickers, Sons & Company Ltd was formed in 1867. It was based initially in Sheffield, where the head office was attached to the steelworks at the River Don Works. The company did not have a London address until it acquired the Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company Ltd in 1897, and inherited a suite of offices at 32 Victoria Street.

In its early years the company concentrated on the production of high quality steel castings. By the start of the twentieth century, however, it was producing a wide range of military equipment. Vickers expanded into other areas, acquiring the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company, and building the first British submarine and airship. By 1911 there was a need for a stronger presence near Whitehall, which had become the company's major customer, and the head office moved from Sheffield to extensive premises in Broadway, Westminster, which were named Vickers House. During these years the company developed a wide variety of military aircraft, and it was a Vickers Vimy that completed the first non-stop Atlantic crossing in 1919.

In 1927 Vickers merged with the greater part of the company Armstrong-Whitworth of Newcastle to form Vickers-Armstrongs. Armstrong's had been formed by W.G. Armstrong, later Lord Armstrong, who established an engineering works on Tyneside in 1847 to manufacture his newly-invented hydraulic machinery. The firm had developed on similar lines to Vickers, producing a range of different guns, before expanding into naval ships and the car and truck business. It had become (Sir W.G.) Armstrong, Whitworth & Company Ltd (or Armstrong-Whitworth) following a merger with the business of Sir Joseph Whitworth in 1897.

Vickers-Armstrongs was involved heavily in the rearmament programme in the lead up to the Second World War, during which time the company played the major role in rearming the British Army. During the war the company moved its head office to three large Victorian houses on Bathwick Hill, Bath, close to where many Admiralty departments had taken up war-time occupation. The head office returned to Westminster in 1945, remaining there until moving to Millbank Tower in 1963.

After the war the company had four main areas of manufacture: aircraft, steel, shipbuilding and general engineering. Post-war, Vickers was responsible for the production of the first British nuclear submarine, the first British V-bomber and the Viscount and VC10 airliners.

Found in 1 Collection or Record: