| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Defence |
| Founded | 1984 (as Royal Ordnance) |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Armaments |
| Parent | BAE Systems |
Royal Ordnance plc was formed on 2 January 1985 as apublic corporation, owning the majority of what until then were the remainingUnited Kingdom government-ownedRoyal Ordnance Factories (abbreviatedROFs) which manufacturedexplosives,ammunition,small arms including theLee–Enfieldrifle,guns and military vehicles such astanks. It owned some 16 factories; and employed about 19,000 staff.
Royal Ordnance plc was bought byBritish Aerospace (BAe) in April 1987, which becameBAE Systems in 1999. The name Royal Ordnance was retained for almost another twenty years; and the sites retained their former names, either asRoyal Ordnance or laterRO 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 the founding of theRoyal Gunpowder Factory (RGPF) atWaltham Abbey, Essex. This was linked to theRoyal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) atEnfield Lock and theRoyal Arsenal atWoolwich. All three were based nearLondon— but not too close in case of explosion. The title ofRoyal Arsenal was introduced in 1805 to encompass the Royal Laboratories, Royal Gun Factory, and the Royal Carriage, which were originally separate and based inGreenwich.
In 1927 these three Royal Factories were transferred, within theWar Office, from theMinistry of Munitions to theDepartment of the Master-General of the Ordnance. AsWorld War II loomed, a further 40 ROFs were built by theMinistry 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 itsprivatisation process in the 1980s, the UK Government transferred some of the, formerly separate, research and development capability of theDefence Research Establishments into the ROFs. Other parts of the UK's defence research and design capability were later closed down; remained with the UKMinistry of Defence, later to becomeDstl; or became part of the privatisedQinetiQ. The small number of ROFs involved innuclear weapons production,ROF Burghfield andROF Cardiff, were removed from ROF management and did not pass over to Royal Ordnance upon privatisation. They were transferred to the control of AWRE; which later became theAtomic 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 toROF Chorley,Lancashire; with itsregistered office located in central London. The intention of the government at this stage was toprivatise Royal Ordnance as soon as possible through astock 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 the sale of the factory andintellectual property rights of theChallenger tanks toVickers plc on 4 October 1986, the final agreement was signed on 31 March 1987 valuing ROF Leeds at £15.2 million. Vickers becameAlvis 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 the MOD regarding future procurement strategies. The financial position of the company was resolved by aTreasury cash injection and the proceeds of the ROF Leeds sale. The liabilities were with regard to a sub-contract for amissile systems between British Aerospace (BAe) and an MOD research establishment transferred to Royal Ordnance onIncorporation; 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 fromGuest, Keen & Nettlefolds (GKN). The £188.5 millionGBP BAe offer was accepted,[1] 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 atROF Patricroft, RSAF Enfield and Waltham Abbey South.
In April 1992 BAe / RO Defence boughtBMARC andPoudreries Réunies de Belgique (PRB) from the receivers of the failedAstra Holdings; and laterMuiden Chemie. In 1991 RO Defence also bought the small arms ammunition interests ofHeckler & Koch.
In 2000 the headquarters of Royal Ordnance was moved from RO Chorley to BAE Systems'Filton site, and manufacturing ceased atRO Bishopton.
In 1999 BAe merged withMarconi Electronic Systems, the defence interests ofGEC, 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 the sites. In 2002 Heckler & Koch was sold to Heckler and Koch BeteiligungsGmbH.
In 2004 BAE Systems acquiredAlvis Vickers Ltd, which was merged with the RO Defence business and ex-GEC plants atBarrow-in-Furness andLeicester to form BAE Systems Land Systems. This organisation was further expanded in 2005 when BAE Systems took over the US companyUnited Defense Industries and added it to 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.