United Kingdom · Company filings
How Rolls-Royce’s aero-engine business changed hands
Rolls-Royce started as a car maker, built an aero-engine business and entered state ownership in 1971 when the RB211 programme ran into trouble. The motor and aero-engine businesses then followed separate ownership paths.
Sources checked
- 1906Rolls-Royce company formed
Henry Royce and Charles Rolls had begun working together on motor cars. Source 1
- 1914First aero-engine design
Royce began designing the Eagle at the start of the First World War. Source 1
- 1953Dart enters civil aviation
The turboprop powered the Vickers Viscount airliner. Source 1
- 4 February 1971Government announces an asset purchase
Ministers said they would acquire essential aero-engine, marine and industrial gas turbine assets. Source 2
- 1973Motor business floated separately
The car business split from the aero-engine division and went to the stock market. Source 3
- 1987Aero-engine business privatised
The aerospace business returned to the private sector after 16 years in state ownership. Source 3
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- 10 February 2011Present holding company incorporated
Companies House gives the parent company number 07524813. Source 4
The motor business separated in 1973. The aero-engine business returned to private ownership in 1987.
The car maker moved into aviation
The company’s own history starts with Henry Royce’s engineering business in 1884. Royce built his first car in 1904, met Charles Rolls and formed the company in 1906. The Eagle design began in the First World War. Two Eagles later powered the first nonstop transatlantic flight in 1919. Source 1
The RB211 put the wider company at risk
By February 1971, the company’s board told ministers that the losses from the programme could exceed its net tangible assets. Ministers told Parliament they intended to buy assets needed to keep aero-engine, marine and industrial turbine operations going. Their statement described the receiver as responsible for the company’s creditors. Source 2
The car and engine businesses went separate ways
A later parliamentary report records the separation and stock market flotation of the motor business in 1973. It dates the return of the aero-engine business to the private sector to 1987. The shared name therefore appears on distinct ownership histories after the split. Source 3
A register date identifies the legal entity
The current aerospace parent’s Companies House entry gives 10 February 2011 as its incorporation date and 07524813 as its company number. The corporate history records earlier businesses that led to today’s group. The number ties filings and officers to the particular holding company. Source 4 Source 1