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| Industry | Aerospace, engineering |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Boulton Paul aircraft division |
| Founded | 1918 |
| Defunct | 1961 |
| Fate | Acquired by Dowty Group. |
| Headquarters | Wolverhampton, UK |
Key people | John Dudley North |
Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer that was incorporated in 1934, although its origins in aircraft manufacturing began earlier in 1914 and lasted until 1961. The company mainly built and modified aircraft under contract to other manufacturers, but had a few notable designs of its own, such as the Defiant fighter and the Balliol trainer.
The company's origins date back to an ironmonger's shop founded in 1797 in Norwich. By the early 1900s, Boulton & Paul Ltd was a successful general manufacturing firm with a construction engineering division. It began building aircraft under contract during the First World War before moving into designing and building its own aircraft.
The aircraft building business was sold off - at a low point in the aviation market - from the main construction business in 1934 and then moved to Wolverhampton under its new name Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd in 1936 to take advantage of skilled local workforce and local government incentives.
By 1961 Boulton Paul Aircraft was a manufacturer of aircraft equipment rather than aircraft, it merged with the Dowty Group.