THIS was no ordinary lunchtime for these Rolls-Royce workers at Hillington. It was February 4, 1971, and 11,000 workers at this and four other Scottish plants had just been informed, via an official statement read over works’ Tannoy systems, of the magnitude of the crisis enveloping the company, with the prospect of substantial redundancies. “We are fighting the Battle of Britain all over again,” one Hillington shop steward said. The workers themselves were too shocked to speak to reporters at the gate.

“State takes over Rolls-Royce,’ said that afternoon’s Evening Times headline. The Herald headline the following day read: “Scotland faces worst effect of Rolls-Royce redundancies.” The company’s collapse, the appointment of a receiver, and the Cabinet’s decision to nationalise some of the assets were described in the Commons as “a national tragedy” and “a nightmare.”

Read more: Herald Diary

The company had run into serious difficulties with the development costs of its RB211 engine, destined for Lockheed’s new L-1011 Tri-Star aircraft. In his memoirs, Ted Heath, Prime Minister in 1971 details the Rolls-Royce chapter, the state aid that had been poured into the company, and the Cabinet decision to assume responsibility for the aero-engine, marine engine and industrial divisions. By the end of 1972, he writes however, Rolls-Royce’s position “had recovered more or less beyond recognition.”