Global military giant born in Wales, 1759
Worcs, it supplies the US military and makes parts for car giants Volvo, Volkswagen and BMW.
It has 59,800 employees, 6,000 of them in Britain. World War it produced steel shells for the forces. In the Second World War, GKN made Spitfires and tanks for the D-Day landings.
Now based in Redditch, GKN opened in 1759, at the Dowlais Ironworks, Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales.
A leading manufacturer of weapons and military equipment, during the First