The company was formed in 1986, after owner Hawker Siddeley Group Plc merged Dursley, Gloucestershire based R A Lister and Company, with Yeovil, Somerset based Petters Limited. In 1992, Hawker Siddeley Group Plc was acquired by BTR plc for £1.5bn. In 1999 BTR merged with Siebe to form BTR Siebe plc, which was renamed Invensys plc. In preparation, BTR sold any subsidiary operations, including Lister-Petter in 1996 to SchrodersVenture Capital. In 2000, with Schroders looking to exit, the firm was bought through a £13.5M management buyout, enabled through selling the original Lister factory site to the South West Regional Development Agency. By this time, the core engine products were in demise, and the company employed around 250 people on a turnover of £35M. Cost-cutting measures included closing the award-winning foundry in 2001: it had been one of the most advanced in Europe when it opened in 1937. In 2003, the company fell into its first administration.
Products
Both companies produced a range of small diesel engines, ranging from single-cylinder water-cooled engines of 2.7 horsepowerup to the 'Delta' engine. One higher-power engine of up to, the 'Omega' is also produced under licence. The engine designs range from more recent design high-speed turbodiesels to traditional single-cylinder medium-speed types such as the 'A-Series' and 'Phi' types.
Applications
Lister Petter engines are generally used in stationary industrial applications such as pumping and electricity generation. The company produces a range of complete generator sets, units equipped for welding and in-house pumping sets, as well as supplying engines to other equipment manufacturers. L-P engines are widely exported, especially for use in irrigation projects. The company also maintains a long tradition in supplying engines for marine applications both as prime mover engines for small vessels and as auxiliary power units in larger ones.
Gas-fuelled engines
Lister Petter's main product, the 'Alpha' series of sub-2-litre engines, is also available in spark ignition forms for running on natural gas or propane. L-P also manufactures and sells biodiesel plants, allowing customers to produce their own fuel for diesel engines.
The company's headquarters and manufacturing facility until 2013 were in Dursley, Gloucestershire, formerly the headquarters of R A Lister and Company. After the company fell into administration in late 2013, the assets were bought by EGL Group of Birmingham. The headquarters had already moved to Hardwicke, and the operations were then moved to the former RAF Aston Down. The company also manufactured marine mountings at their small facility Located near Swindon, Wiltshire in Wroughton up until its closure in 1992. Lister Petter have agents in France, the United States, China and India, which market their products and carry out final assembly of larger items such as generating sets from imported parts.
