 | |
| Type | Public company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 1955 |
| Defunct | 1990 |
| Fate | Went into administration |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
Key people | John Gunn (CEO) |
British and Commonwealth Holdings plc was a financial services company which used to be a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The company was originally established in 1955 when Clan Line Steamers was merged with Union Castle [1] to form The British & Commonwealth Shipping Company, [2] a shipping business. Until 1987 its major shareholder was Caledonia Investments, which since 1951 has been controlled by Clan Line's founding Cayzer family.
British & Commonwealth were the ultimate owners of British United Airways (BUA), Britain's largest wholly private, independent airline of the 1960s, as well as its subsidiaries and sister companies, including British United Air Ferries and British United Island Airways (BUIA). They were also a shareholder of Bristow Helicopters, at the time the UK's biggest helicopter company as well as one of the largest in the world, [3] acquiring full control in 1985. [4]
In 1969 British and Commonwealth Shipping, Furness Withy, P&O and The Ocean Steamship Company established Overseas Containers Limited to exploit containerisation. [5]
In late 1970 British & Commonwealth sold BUA along with three new BAC One-Eleven 500 aircraft it had leased to the airline to Caledonian Airways for £12m. It continued to own BUIA, which had changed its name to British Island Airways (BIA) in July 1970. [3]
In the 1980s, new management under John Gunn oversaw rapid expansion in financial services. This wasn't a totally new area for the company: it had established fund managers Gartmore in 1969. [6] Multiple acquisitions included Exco International, a UK money brokering business in 1986, [7] and Oppenheimer, a large American fund management company.
At its height, the company was said to be "the largest financial services company in the UK, if the 4 high-street banks are excluded". Favourable profiles in the business press culminated in John Gunn being awarded the accolade "Guardian Young Businessman of the Year".
In 1988 it acquired Atlantic Computers plc, a computer services business for £434m, having first built up a stake in that company by way of a series of market purchases. [8] The acquisition proved ruinous – "accounting irregularities" were discovered in Atlantic's books: the company had been building up huge contingent liabilities due to its 'Extended Paperwork' practice.
Both acquiror and acquiree subsequently went into administration (the former in 1990, [8] the latter during the late 1990s [9] ). Until its collapse, British & Commonwealth had also been the majority shareholder of Air UK, at the time the UK's largest regional airline and BIA's successor, and also Servisair the airline and cargo ground handling company based, at the time, in Bramhall.
Cunard is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
British Caledonian (BCal) was a British private independent airline which operated out of London Gatwick Airport in south-east England during the 1970s and 1980s. It was created as an alternative to the British government-controlled corporation airlines and was described as the "Second Force" in the 1969 Edwards report. It was formed by the UK's second-largest, independent charter airline Caledonian Airways taking over British United Airways (BUA), then the largest British independent airline and the United Kingdom's leading independent scheduled carrier. The carrier slogan was Let's go British Caledonian in the 1970s and We never forget you have a choice in the 1980s. The BUA takeover enabled Caledonian to realise its long-held ambition to transform itself into a scheduled airline. The merged entity eventually became the UK's foremost independent, international scheduled airline.
Caledonian Airways was a wholly private, independent British charter airline formed in April 1961. It began with a single 104-seat Douglas DC-7C leased from the Belgian flag carrier Sabena. Caledonian grew rapidly over the coming years to become the leading transatlantic "affinity group" charter operator by the end of the decade. During that period, passenger numbers grew from just 8,000 in 1961 to 800,000 in 1970. The latter represented 22.7% of all British non-scheduled passengers. It also became Britain's most consistently profitable and financially most secure independent airline of its era, never failing to make a profit in all its ten years of existence. By the end of 1970, Caledonian operated an all-jet fleet consisting of eleven aircraft and provided employment for over 1,000 workers. At that time, its principal activities included group charters between North America, Europe and the Far East using Boeing 707s, and general charter and inclusive tour (IT) activities in Europe utilising One-Elevens.
AirUK was a wholly privately owned, independent regional British airline formed in 1980 as a result of a merger involving four rival UK-based regional airlines. British and Commonwealth (B&C)-owned British Island Airways (BIA) and Air Anglia were the two dominant merger partners. The merged entity's corporate headquarters were originally located at Redhill, Surrey, the location of the old BIA head office. It subsequently relocated to Crawley, West Sussex. In addition to the main maintenance base at Norwich Airport, there also used to be a second major maintenance base at Blackpool Airport. This was closed down following Air UK's major retrenchment during Britain's severe recession of the early 1980s. In 1987, Air UK established Air UK Leisure as a charter subsidiary. The following year, Air UK shifted its headquarters to London Stansted Airport. When Stansted's new Norman Foster-designed terminal opened in 1991, the airline became its first and subsequently main tenant.
Eastern Airways, legally incorporated as Air Kilroe Limited, is a British regional airline whose head office is at Humberside Airport near the village of Kirmington, North Lincolnshire, England. It operates domestic, international and private charter services. Around 800,000 passengers a year are carried on the scheduled route network.
British United Airways (BUA) was a private, independent British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest wholly private airline based in the United Kingdom at the time. British and Commonwealth Shipping (B&C) was the new airline's main shareholder.
British United Island Airways (BUIA) was formed in November 1968 as part of a reorganisation of the BUA group of companies. It was a regional sister airline of British United Airways (BUA), Britain's largest wholly private, independent airline of the 1960s. It operated a network of regional, short-haul scheduled routes linking a variety of destinations within Europe, including year-round services from both Channel Islands to BUA's Gatwick base.
British Island Airways (BIA) was the legal successor to British United Island Airways (BUIA). It commenced operations under that name in mid-1970. Ten years later it merged with Air Anglia, Air Wales and Air Westward to form Air UK, at the time the United Kingdom's biggest regional airline and its third-largest scheduled operator. The first British Island Airways had its head office at Congreve House (1970–1972) and Berkeley House (1973–1979), which are respectively located in Station Road and on the high street in Redhill, Surrey.
Airwork Limited, also referred to during its history as Airwork Services Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary company of VT Group plc. It has a long and rich history in providing a variety of defence support services to the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm and overseas air forces, as well as having played an important role in the development of civil aviation – both in the United Kingdom and abroad.
British Eagle International Airlines was a major British independent airline that operated from 1948 until it went into liquidation in 1968. It operated scheduled and charter services on a domestic, international and transatlantic basis over the years.
British Caledonian (BCal) came into being in November 1970 when the Scottish charter airline Caledonian Airways, at the time Britain's second-largest, wholly privately owned, independent airline, took over British United Airways (BUA), then the largest British independent airline as well as the United Kingdom's leading independent scheduled carrier.
The Clan Line was a passenger and cargo shipping company that operated in one incarnation or another from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century.
Bristow Helicopters Limited is a British civil helicopter operator originally based at Aberdeen Airport, Scotland, which is currently a part of the U.S.-based Bristow Group which in turn has its corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas, U.S. In 2020, Bristow Group was merged with Era Helicopters, a large U.S.-based commercial helicopter operator that was previously a division of Era Aviation, with the two companies then continuing to use the Bristow name.
Caledonia Investments plc is an investment trust company based in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Alan Edgar Bristow, founded one of the world's largest helicopter service companies, Bristow Helicopters Ltd, which prospered primarily in the international oil and mineral exploration and extraction industries, but also spread into search and rescue, peacekeeping and other fields.
Hunting-Clan Air Transport was a wholly private, British independent airline that was founded in the immediate post-World War II period. It began trading on 1 January 1946 as Hunting Air Travel Ltd. It was a subsidiary of the Hunting Group of companies, which had come from the shipping industry and could trace its history back to the 19th century. The newly formed airline's first operating base was at Bovingdon Airport in Southeast England. Its main activities were contract, scheduled and non-scheduled domestic and international air services that were initially operated with Douglas Dakota and Vickers Viking piston airliners from the company's Bovingdon base. A change of name to Hunting Air Transport occurred in 1951. By that time, the airline had emerged as one of the healthiest and most securely financed independent airlines in Britain. In October 1953, the firm's name changed to Hunting-Clan Air Transport, as a result of an agreement between the Hunting Group and the Clan Line group of companies to invest £500,000 each in a new company named Hunting-Clan Air Holdings Ltd, the holding company for the combined group's air transport interests. Apart from Hunting-Clan Air Transport itself, this included Field Aircraft Services Ltd, the Hunting group's aircraft maintenance arm. In 1960, Hunting-Clan Air Transport merged with the Airwork group to form British United Airways (BUA).
British Aviation Services Limited (Britavia) was an early post-World War II airline holding company and air transport operator that could trace its roots back to 1946. Its main activities included trooping, inclusive tour (IT) and worldwide passenger and freight charter services. British Aviation Services' first investment in a British independent airline occurred in 1946, when it acquired a minority interest in Silver City Airways. Silver City Airways operated the world's first cross-Channel air ferry service on 13 July 1948. It subsequently became British Aviation Services' biggest operating division. In 1953, British Aviation Services took over the independent airline Air Kruise. The same year, BAS Group also took control of Aquila Airways, the last commercial flying boat operator in the United Kingdom. The completion of these acquisitions by mid-1954 resulted in a reorganisation of the British Aviation Services group, with British Aviation Services Ltd (BAS Group) becoming the group's holding company and Britavia one of its operating subsidiaries. By the late 1950s, BAS Group became Britain's largest independent airline operator. Its numerous operating divisions included Britavia's Hermes Division at Blackbushe Airport and Aquila Airways's Flying Boat Division at Hamble near Southampton. The former concentrated on trooping services and inclusive tours while the latter provided scheduled services to Portugal, the Canary Islands and Italy. In 1962, BAS Group merged with British United Airways (BUA), which by that time had replaced BAS as the UK's largest independent airline operator.
Morton Air Services was one of the earliest post-World War II private, independent British airlines formed in 1945. It mainly operated regional short-haul scheduled services within the British Isles and between the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. In 1953, Morton took over rival independent UK airline Olley Air Service. In 1958, Morton became part of the Airwork group. Morton retained its identity following the 1960 Airwork — Hunting-Clan merger that led to the creation of British United Airways (BUA). The reorganisation of the BUA group of companies during 1967/8 resulted in Morton being absorbed into British United Island Airways (BUIA) in 1968.
Jersey Airlines was an early post-World War II private, independent British airline formed in 1948. In 1952, the airline operated its first scheduled service. Four years later, British European Airways (BEA) took a 25% minority stake in Jersey Airlines and made it an "associate". In June 1958, a Jersey Airlines de Havilland Heron became the first commercial airliner to arrive at the newly reconstructed Gatwick Airport. In 1960, Jersey Airlines ordered four state-of-the-art Handley Page Dart Herald 200 series turboprops. By 1962, BEA had sold its 25% minority holding in Jersey Airlines. The same year, Jersey Airlines became part of the British United Airways (BUA) group of companies. In August 1963, Jersey Airlines changed its trading name to British United (C.I.) Airways. Following the BUA group's 1967/8 reorganisation, BUA (C.I.) was absorbed into British United Island Airways (BUIA) in November 1968.
Gatwick Handling Limited was an aircraft ground handling agent headquartered at London Gatwick Airport.