Ferranti Defence Systems Limited

Any original system of organisation has been lost and the records are listed in a simple chronological order.

The records in this section appear to have been transferred to the company archive by individuals in the Scottish and Defence Systems Groups rather than as a normal part of the Groups operations. A number appear to have been transferred after the discovery of the Fraud in 1990 and after the closure of the archive.

The Ferranti Defence Systems Limited group was formed in 1984/85 from the Ferranti Scottish Group but can trace its origins back to 1943. The Scottish Group was formed in that year with the establishment of a factory in Edinburgh to manufacture Gyro Gun Sights for aircraft. Built in only 111 days especially for Ferranti, the factory was paid for by the Government with Ferranti buying back the site by a process of converting rent into payments. The factory established Ferranti in Scotland and signalled the company's move into the Defence market. Ferranti expanded its operations in Scotland soon after the War, increasing the number of factories based in Edinburgh and founding other sites in Dalkeith and Aberdeen. The group concentrated on producing electronic systems with military applications, but also produced industrial laser systems, fuel dispensing systems (for petrol stations) and 'offshore' technologies. At its peak the Scottish Group employed over 6000 people making it the largest group outside the company's Manchester base. Based at Turnhouse Airport Edinburgh the Ferranti Flying Unit was attached to the Scottish Group and was used to test many of the military systems produced by the group. In 1984/85 Ferranti went through a general restructuring in which the Scottish Group was split into two sections. Ferranti Defence Systems Limited and Ferranti Industrial Electronics Limited [see below]. As its name suggest the Defence Systems Group manufactured the military systems formerly made by the Scottish Group, including Radar Systems, Navigation Systems, Display Systems and Electro-Optic Systems. After the discovery of the Fraud in 1989 the Defence Systems Group was sold to GEC as a subsidiary of GEC-Marconi in 1990.