Alvis

Alvis Ltd was formed in Coventry by Mr TG John in 1919 to manufacture motor cars. Alvis quickly became noted as a producer of innovative and high quality cars, which are now classic collectors' items, and went on to become one of the prestige names in the British automobile industry.

The company moved into aero engine manufacture in the 1930's and was a major producer during World War 2, for example supplying the Merlin engines for the Lancaster bomber. Both aero engine and car manufacture ceased in the 1960's, although there are still some 2000 Alvis cars running in the UK today and the marque is enthusiastically supported.

Alvis started manufacturing armoured vehicles before World War 2 and afterwards became one of the leading names in the world supplying light armoured fighting vehicles. The widely renowned Saladin and Saracen high mobility wheeled vehicles were followed by the equally uccessful Scorpion, and later Stormer, tracked vehicles. Alvis has supplied a high proportion of the British Army's light armour and has exported to more than 40 countries.

Alvis Ltd was bought by United Scientific Holdings plc from the then British Leyland in 1981. United Scientific had been built up rapidly by organic growth and acquisition in the 1960's and 1970's, as first a trader in, and then a leading developer and manufacturer of, military sighting equipment. Following the disposal of some of the optical companies in the early 1990's, it was decided to adopt the Alvis name for the Group in order to reflect the increasing concentration of the business on military and vehicle engineering. Accordingly in 1992 United Scientific Holdings was renamed Alvis plc. In 1993 a substantial restructuring of the Group took place when the optical companies owned by Alvis were transferred to the then 51% owned subsidiary of Alvis in Singapore, Avimo, which had previously been floated on the Singapore Stock Exchange. Alvis subsequently disposed of its stockholding in Avimo in 2001.

Since the 1993 restructuring, Alvis has continued to enhance its focus on military vehicles, with major export contracts for the Scorpion and Stormer vehicles in the mid 1990s. In a significant corporate development in 1997 the Group acquired H?gglunds Vehicle AB, the major Scandinavian manufacturer of light and medium armoured vehicles. Equally significantly, in 1998 the Group took over the armoured vehicle business of GKN plc in a transaction which saw GKN take a shareholding in the enlarged Group and the main UK manufacturing operation move from Coventry to Telford.

In September 2002 Alvis consolidated its position as the UK?s main manufacturer of armoured fighting vehicles with the acquisition of Vickers Defence Systems, the supplier of the Challenger 2 main battle tank and the Trojan and Titan Engineer vehicles. The combined UK business was renamed Alvis Vickers Ltd. The transaction also saw two new companies join the Group: Alvis Bridging, a leading international supplier of military bridging equipment, and Alvis South Africa, a major regional armoured vehicle supplier and a world leader in mine-protected vehicle technology. The GKN shareholding in Alvis plc was acquired by BAE Systems in August 2003.

The Alvis Group today is the leading Europe-based armoured vehicle manufacturer, and amongst the top few such companies in the world. It is the only company offering the full spectrum of armoured vehicle capability from main battle tanks, via armoured infantry fighting vehicles, to armoured personnel carriers and light armoured vehicles. Its leading edge technology base is already equipping military vehicles with fighting capabilities to rival those of modern military aircraft, enhanced protection including stealth, electric armour and defensive aids, and hybrid and electric drive systems.

The international armoured fighting vehicle business is unusual in its exceptionally long product life-cycles, diverse customer base, and dependence on military expenditure which is often counter-cyclical. Against this backdrop, Alvis?s strengths of focus, technology, product range and customer base leave it well-placed to achieve continued success and further growth.