Handley Page Limited was an aircraft manufacturers based in Cricklewood, and later Radlett, founded by Frederick Handley Page. Prior to establishing his company Handley Page had experimented with several aircraft designs, being fired from his pervious employed for conducting these on their premises. As a result, on 17th June 1909, he established his own company in order to manufacture and sell his designs, making it the first company in Britain established to manufacture aircraft. Initially the company was based in Barking, but it would later move to Cricklewood, where the company had an airfield from which aircraft could be flown.

During the First World War the company produced the Type O bombers which were designed to attach German Zeppelin yard, with the later intent of bombing Berlin. The first of these to enter service was the O/100 which was followed by the O/400 in 1918. The company also produced the V/1500 which was capable of attacking Berlin from East Anglia but was not used due to the end of the war. At the time these aircraft were the largest to be produced in Britain and were some of the largest in the world.

Following the end of the war a Handley Page V/1500 was shipped to Newfoundland in order to attempt the first trans-Atlantic flight. This aircraft, named ‘Atlantic’, would miss out on this as Alcock and Brown would complete the feat in June 1919 using a Vickers Vimy. It would be later used to transport the first airmail from Canada to the United States. Also at this time, the company would adapt a number of its O/400s for passenger use. These would be employed on the London to Paris route, operated by Handley Page Transport Ltd, also established by Frederick but not part of the aircraft manufacturing business, and which would later be merged with other operators to form Imperial Airways.

A final development that occurred during 1919 was the introduction of the company’s first purpose built airliner, the Type W. This was a development of the wartime O/400, as the V/1500 was deemed to large although some of its components were used on the design. This had a fully enclosed passenger compartment but with an open cockpit and would continue in service until 1931.

During the 1920s the majority of the Handley Page’s revenue was generated from the licence fees paid by other companies for the use of their design of slat. This was mounted on the front of an aircrafts main wing and was designed to improve airflow at high angles of attack. Gustav Lachmann would also develop this at the same time would be later employed by the company.

In 1929 the Cricklewood Aerodrome would be closed in favour of a new one constructed at Radlett, where all testing and final assembly would be completed. The factory at Cricklewood would be retained in order to manufacture aircraft components until 1964.

During 1931 the company would produce a pair of airliner designs to a specification issued by Imperial Airways. These were the HP.42, designed for use on the long range routes to the far east, and the HP.45, for use on shorter European routes. These were the largest aircraft in regular service at the time and were all given names beginning with H.

Despite the numerous designs the company produced during the inter-war year it would not be very profitable as the airliners it produced were only ordered in very limited numbers. This would change with the raise in European tensions in the late 1930s, which would see the company returning to production of military aircraft. Initially this was the HP.52 Hampden and HP.54 Harrow, both of which saw service in the early stages of the Second World War before being transferred to use as transports. These would be followed by the HP.57 Halifax, which was developed from a unsuccessful twin engine design, and would become the second most widely used four engine bomber, following the Avro Lancaster. It would also be employed as a transport and glider tug. The company would also work on the HP.75 Manx, which was a twin engine tailess aircraft, but this would suffer a series of issues that would mean it was scrapped after only 17 hours flight.

In 1947 Handley Page purchased the assets of Mile Aircraft, which had gone bankrupt, including the designs, tools and jigs for the Miles M.52 Supersonic aircraft. The company also acquired the Woodley site and began operations as a subsidiary, Handley Page (Reading) Ltd, which also took over the remaining assets of the dormant Handley Page Transport Ltd. The company would produce the Herald airliner with the HRP model number.

In the post war years Handley Page was most well-known for its involvement in the producing of one of the three V-bombers introduced in the 1950s. These were the British nuclear deterrent and were developed to Specification B.35/46, which aimed to replace the piston engine powered Lancasters and Lincolns then in service. In response the company developed the HP.80, a crescent wing four engine design, which became the Victor and was first flown in 1952. During 1956 one of these aircraft underwent tests during which it broke the sound barrier, one of the largest aircraft to achieve this at the time. Following this type would enter service in 1958 and would remain in service until 1993, although they had been converted to airborne tankers in the late 1960s when they were deemed surplus to requirements.

In 1961 the company produced the HP.115, which was designed to test the low speed handling of a delta wing aircraft. This was part of the research that led to the production of Concorde and would be used until 1974. During 1970 this aircraft would be flown by Neil Armstrong, after he had been previously refused the opportunity by NASA in 1962.

During the late 1960 Handley Page resisted government pressure to merge with other aircraft manufacturers. As a result, it did not become part of the two main manufacturers, Hawker Siddeley and the British Aircraft Corporation, but it also meant that it was unable to compete for government contracts or produce large commercial aircraft on a the same scale as these two companies. Although they developed the Jetstream as a commuter aircraft this was not enough to prevent the company going bankrupt. In March 1970 it went into voluntary liquidation and was wound up. The Jetstream continued to by produced by Scottish Aviation and later British Aerospace.