Survitec Group is a British manufacturer of personal survival equipment for usage after ejecting from aircraft or when at sea.

History

RFD

Reginald Foster Dagnall formed RFD in 1920 in Surrey. Beaufort had been founded in 1852. RFD liferafts and dinghies were used extensively in World War II for allied aircrew. RFD Beaufort pioneered submarine escape technology in the 1950s, known as Submarine Escape Immersion Equipment (SEIE).

Survitec

The Survitec Group was actually formed in 2000. In 2001 it bought DSB (Deutsche Schlauchboot GmbH). In 2009, The Shark Group (founded in 1975) closed its Northumberland site and production was moved to Birkenhead. In 2004, it was bought by Montagu Private Equity for £146 million. In January 2010, Survitec was bought by the private equity firm Warburg Pincus from

Montagu Private Equity Montagu is a mid-market private equity firm. The primary investment focus of Montagu is on management buyouts of performing businesses with enterprise values typically ranging from €200 million to €1 billion. History The firm was founded in 19 ...

for £280 million. In December 2010, it bought Revere Supply Inc of Florida, to become SSPI. In May 2011, Survitec began the process of acquiring two further companies;

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

-based Cosalt Marine, for £31 million.Belfast Telegraph
/ref> and the commercial liferaft and MES business of Bordeaux-based Zodiac. Cosalt Marine, employed over 450 people at 21 worldwide sites, with a turnover of £57 million.

Structure

Its headquarters and registered office is on ''Beaufort Road'' in Birkenhead. The RFD Beaufort factory in Birkenhead is on the A5030 between Poulton and Claughton, next to the

Great Float The Great Float is a body of water on the Wirral Peninsula, England, formed from the natural tidal inlet, the Wallasey Pool. It is split into two large Dock (maritime), docks, East Float and West Float, both part of the Birkenhead Docks complex ...

. The RFD Beaufort factory in Dunmurry is on the A1. It has servicing plants around the world: * Sharon Center, Ohio, USA - RFD Beaufort Inc *

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, Italy
Eurovinil
*

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, England * Eschershausen, Niedersachsen, Germany - DSB
Deutsche Schlauchboot GmbH
* Les Attaques,

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

, France
RFD France
* Belgium - Antwerp, Ostend * Netherlands - Grou, Rotterdam * Spain - Algeciras, Barcelona * Birkenhead - RFD Beaufort * Dunmurry - RFD Beaufort * Dyce, Aberdeen
SurvivalOne
an
Shark Group
(formerly in Broomhill, Northumberland) * Aberdeen

- Survitec Survival Craft *

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

, Japan
RFD Japan
* Shanghai, China
WH Brennan
* Hong Kong - WH Brenna
WH Brennan
* Singapore - WH Brenna
WH Brennan
* Australia

Auburn, New South Wales Auburn is a Western Sydney suburb in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Auburn is located west of the Sydney central business district and is in the Local government in Australia, local government area of Cumberland Council, New South Wale ...

, Sydney, Australia
RFD Australia
Freemantle, Melbourne, Slacks Creek * New Zealand - Auckland, Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington * Gosport, UK ("Crewsaver"

* Canada - Dartmouth, Mount Pearl, Vancouver ("DBC"

* Norway - Aalesund, Bergen, Stokmarnes, Kristiansand * Sweden - Gothenburg

Customers

Customers include * Ministry of Defence * US Navy * US Air Force *

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

* Lockheed Martin *

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

* Carnival Cruise Lines * Royal Caribbean Cruises *

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California and is incorporated in Bermuda. As of 2025, it is the List of cruise lines#List of cruise lines by size, s ...

References

{{reflist General references
Northumberland factory closes in March 2009

External links

Survitec Group

RFD Beaufort Marine
Aircraft component manufacturers of the United Kingdom County Antrim Manufacturing companies established in 1920 Rescue equipment Survival equipment 1920 establishments in England Warburg Pincus companies