Metropolitan-Vickers

Metropolitan-Vickers
Company type	Private company
Industry	Electrical engineering, manufacturing
Predecessor	British Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Company
Founded	1899
Defunct	1960
Fate	Merged into Associated Electrical Industries (AEI), later acquired by General Electric Company (GEC)
Headquarters	Manchester, United Kingdom
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Dudley Docker (chairman of Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company)
Products	Generators, steam turbines, switchgear, transformers, electronics, railway traction equipment, aircraft engines, locomotives, household appliances, scientific instruments
Parent	Associated Electrical Industries (from 1929)

Metropolitan-Vickers, also known as Metrovick or Metrovicks, was a prominent British heavy electrical engineering firm active during the early to mid-20th century, originally operating under the name British Westinghouse. The company was widely recognized for its broad range of industrial electrical products, including generators, steam turbines, switchgear, transformers, various electronics, and equipment for railway traction. Metrovick holds distinction for developing the first commercial transistor computer, the Metrovick 950, as well as pioneering the first British axial-flow jet engine, the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2. Its manufacturing plant located in Trafford Park, Manchester, was among the world’s largest heavy engineering sites throughout much of the 20th century.

History

Metrovick emerged from efforts to divest the British Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Company from American ownership, which had impeded access to government contracts during the First World War. In 1917, a holding company was established to facilitate the acquisition of company assets.

By May 1917, ownership was shared between the Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company based in Birmingham—led by chairman Dudley Docker—and Vickers Limited of Barrow-in-Furness. Subsequently, on 15 March 1919, Vickers agreed to acquire all shares of Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company for nearly £13 million. Later that year, on 8 September 1919, Vickers rebranded British Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Company as the Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company.

Following World War I, investment stagnated and labour disputes were common until 1926 when the establishment of the Central Electricity Board standardized electrical supply across Britain. This development spurred growth in distribution networks, installations, and appliance sales, culminating in record revenues by 1927.

On 15 November 1922, the BBC was officially registered; its Manchester station, 2ZY, commenced broadcasts from Metropolitan Vickers’ Old Trafford power station.

In 1921, Metrovick secured a manufacturing site at Attercliffe Common in Sheffield dedicated to producing traction motors. By 1923, it had expanded its engineering division to build complete locomotives alongside its range of electric delivery vehicles.

BTH merger and transition to AEI

In 1928, Metrovick merged with its competitor British Thomson-Houston (BTH), a company comparable in size and product offerings. This union created one of the few enterprises capable of rivaling both Marconi and English Electric. Nevertheless, communication issues and fierce internal competition hampered cohesive operation between the two firms.

The following year, in 1929, the merged company became part of the Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) holding group, which also owned companies such as Edison Swan (Ediswan) and Manchester-based switchgear manufacturer Ferguson, Pailin & Co. Despite AEI’s oversight, ongoing rivalry between Metrovick and BTH hindered effective management of these subsidiaries.

The onset of the Great Depression in 1929 intensified existing difficulties; however, Metrovick’s international sales—including a significant railway electrification project in Brazil—helped mitigate domestic downturns. By 1933, global commerce began recovering but faced disruption when six Metrovick engineers were detained in Moscow on charges of espionage and "wrecking" related to defective turbines supplied to the Soviet Union. Intervention by the British government secured their release and trade resumed following a short embargo.

Throughout the 1930s, Metropolitan Vickers manufactured large-diameter (3 m/10 ft) three-phase AC traction motors for Hungarian electric locomotives (V40 and V60) designed by engineer Kálmán Kandó, with funding provided through British economic aid.

In 1935, Metrovick constructed a steam turbogenerator rated at 105 MW, then the largest in Europe, installed at Battersea Power Station.

By 1936, Metropolitan Vickers had begun collaborating with the Air Ministry on automatic pilot technologies and expanded into producing gunlaying systems and radar equipment by 1937. In 1938, they entered an agreement to manufacture a turboprop engine developed at the Royal Aircraft Establishment under Hayne Constant. Meanwhile, BTH was engaged with engineer Frank Whittle on groundbreaking jet engine projects.

Wartime aircraft production

In mid-1938, Metropolitan-Vickers (MV) obtained a licence from A.V. Roe to manufacture Avro Manchester twin-engine heavy bombers. To accommodate this new venture, which differed from their usual heavy engineering operations, a dedicated factory was built on Mosley Road and completed by 1940. Production encountered difficulties, notably the unreliable Rolls-Royce Vulture engines and the loss of the initial 13 Manchesters during a Luftwaffe air raid on Trafford Park in December 1940. Nevertheless, MV managed to complete 43 Manchester bombers before transitioning to the enhanced four-engine Avro Lancaster, powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines supplied by the Ford shadow factory. Assembly initially occurred in three hangars near Manchester's Ringway Airport, later moving to Avro’s Woodford airfield. By the conclusion of World War II, MV had produced 1,080 Lancasters alongside 79 Avro Lincoln variants before halting aircraft manufacturing in December 1945.

In 1940, MV shifted its focus from turboprop development to pure jet engine technology, culminating in the creation of the Metrovick F.2, which first flew on a Gloster Meteor in 1943. Following enhancements for greater thrust and the development of the larger Metrovick F.9 ''Sapphire'', the jet engine division was sold to Armstrong Siddeley in 1947 as part of Ministry of Supply efforts to consolidate the aerospace sector.

Apart from aircraft production, wartime efforts also included manufacturing Dowty and Messier landing gear systems, autopilot devices, searchlights, radar apparatus, as well as electric vans and trucks.

Metrovick postwar

After the war, intensified competition emerged between Metrovick and BTH over large turbogenerator contracts amid growing demand for electrical systems. Metrovick expanded its appliance division significantly, becoming a prominent manufacturer of refrigerators and cooking stoves.

The company also made strides in scientific instrumentation, producing advanced electron microscopes and mass spectrometers.

In 1947, Metrovick installed its G.1 Gatric gas turbine aboard the naval vessel MGB 2009, marking the world’s inaugural use of a gas turbine for naval propulsion. The succeeding G.2 marine gas turbine (delivering 4,500 shp) powered Royal Navy fast patrol boats Bold Pioneer and Bold Pathfinder, constructed in 1953.

The Bluebird K7 hydroplane surpassed the 200 mph water speed threshold in 1955 using a Metropolitan-Vickers Beryl jet engine generating significant thrust.

Metrovick ventured into diesel locomotive production by combining their generators and traction motors with external diesel engines. Key models included the 1950 Western Australian Government Railways X class (2-Do-2 wheel arrangement) and the distinctive 1958 Co-Bo type 2 (later British Rail Class 28). The latter featured an unusual wheel configuration paired with a Crossley two-stroke diesel engine but was withdrawn by the late 1960s due to limited success. Additionally, Metrovick supplied Ireland’s first mainline diesels with the CIE 001 Class introduced from 1955.

Electrical equipment manufactured by Metropolitan Vickers powered British Rail Classes 76 (EM1), 77 (EM2), and was designed for Class 82 locomotives produced by Beyer Peacock. Comparable components were also provided for New South Wales Government Railways’ 46 class locomotives and British Rail Class 303 electric multiple units.

During the 1950s, Metrovick established a major power transformer manufacturing plant at Wythenshawe, Manchester; it commenced operations in 1957 but was closed by GEC in 1971 and subsequently sold to Ingersoll Rand.

In 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin toured Metrovick’s Trafford Park facility during his visit to the United Kingdom.

The long-standing competition between Metrovick and BTH concluded when AEI merged both under its own brand on January 1, 1960—a decision that proved unpopular internally and externally, resulting in reduced sales and a decline in AEI’s share value.

Acquisition by General Electric Company (GEC)

AEI faced significant difficulties in consolidating the dual management frameworks within Metropolitan-Vickers. By the mid-1960s, the existence of two overlapping leadership tiers weakened operational oversight. This intricate corporate structure played a role in AEI being purchased by General Electric Company in 1967.

Bibliography

External links

"Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Co. Ltd. 1899-1949" by John Dummelow Extensive text and imagery spanning 250 pages. (Archived copy at https://web.archive.org/web/20050308065049/http://www.mvbook.org.uk/ )