Crawley New Town: Economic history | British History Online

Crawley New Town: Economic history | British History Online

"Redifon Ltd., a subsidiary of the Rediffusion Organization and a manufacturer of flight simulators and advanced training devices, moved from Blackfriars, London, to Crawley in 1954 and occupied its present site in Gatwick Road in 1957. The main factory was extended from 90,000 sq. ft. in 1957 to 230,000 by 1985. A second works was established in 1974 and two more in 1975, with a total of 103,000 sq. ft. Employment increased from c. 450 in 1954 to c. 750 in 1959, c. 1,400 in 1963, and c. 1,800 in 1979, falling back to c. 1,300 in 1985. The firm's style changed to Rediffusion Simulation Ltd. in 1980. In 1985 besides the main works in Gatwick Road it or its associates had works in Crompton Way, Kelvin Way, Gatwick Road, and Manor Royal."

Rediffusion Simulation Ltd. briefly had a division in Broken Arrow, south of Albany Street between Aspen and 129th East Ave. RSL was sold to Hughes Aerospace in 1988, which was soon after acquired by General Motors, after which the simulation business was sold to Thomson-CSF (later Thales). In 2012, Thales sold the civilian fixed-wing simulation operations to L3; L3 and Thales both still have operations in the Manor Royal district of Crawley.