Dowty Group

Origins What would eventually become Dowty Group was founded as the Aircraft Components Company in 1931 by British inventor and businessman George Dowty, who was working as a draughtsman for the Gloster Aircraft Company at that time. In June 1931, Dowty decided to resign from Gloster to form Aircraft Components Ltd, which was based in 10 Lansdown Terrace Lane in Cheltenham. In 1961, it acquired British aviation company Boulton Paul Aircraft, a former large scale manufacturer of aircraft, involved in the production of research aircraft as well as aviation subsystems such as powered control units, as well as other activities. For a time, this part the business was known as Dowty Boulton Paul Ltd. In the 1960s, Dowty Group contributed to several major British aviation projects, including the development and provision of fuel control systems for the Harrier jump jet and of power controls for the Concorde supersonic airliner. Case Group plc, a telecommunications company, in 1988 and Dataco, a provider of network services, in 1990. ==Acquisition, restructuring and absorption==

During 1992, Dowty Group was acquired by TI Group, another large British specialist engineering company. Reportedly, Dowty had been regarded by TI's chairman, Sir Christopher Lewinton, as his number-one target and had made substantial preparations towards its acquisition, although the bid was not regarded as being a hostile one despite Dowty's board initially having spurned the proposition. The company promptly underwent heavy restructuring. By August 1993, TI Group had made 1,500 of ex-Dowty workforce redundant since the acquisition, equivalent to 20 per cent of the workforce; this was reportedly a consequence of the unit's performance being below expectations. In 1993, TI Group decided to dispose of seven former Dowty Group companies engaged in the manufacture of electronic equipment; this was achieved in the form of a management buy-out, this deal resulted in the creation of Ultra Electronics. In 1994, TI Group transferred the Dowty landing gear business into a joint venture that it formed with SNECMA, which became known as Messier-Dowty. According to Tony Edwards, the chief executive and chairman of the merged entity, while acknowledging there having been some difficulties due to a lack of preparation, he regarded it as being: "a successful example of European integration that works". During late 1998, Messier-Dowty became wholly owned by French business Safran. == See also ==