Classic Lecture - 'Offers They Couldn't Refuse' : Mergers in the UK Aircraft Industry, 1957-1962

Summary: Prof Keith Hayward takes us down the corridors of power and into the boardrooms to show us how the Government issued Britain’s iconic aircraft companies with ‘offers they could not refuse’ and, so doing, transformed the industry. A mixture of The Godfather and Yes Minister, Hayward chronicles the struggles between companies and individuals, shows the broken engagements and draws light on the ghostly figures in the background and the archvillain, Duncan Sandys. Prof Keith Hayward FRAeS addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 2 April 2009. The lecture is introduced by Dr Kit Mitchell FRAeS and the podcast was edited by Mike Stanberry FRAeS.