Barlick Jets
Alongside Victory Park in Barlick is a factory owned by Rolls Royce. It was originally the Rover Jet engine research unit where Frank Whittle worked on his invention. In 1943 the respective MDs of Rover and Rolls Royce agreed to exchange this unit for the RR tank factory in Belper, Derbyshire. This decision pleased Frank Whittle as he felt Rover were interfering too much in his work. So, whilst Rover took over development and production of the Meteor tank engine, RR developed the only British jet powered plane to see active service in WWII - the Gloster Meteor.
During the war the remoteness of Barlick had been seen as an advantage but in peacetime it views changed and the research unit was moved to Derby. Barlick continued to work on special components for RR jets and the RB211 nomenclature was derived from Rolls Barnoldswick.