The sales success of the Avro trainer biplanes was facilitated by membership of the Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Group. Due to the post-war slump, Crossley Motors had acquired 68.5 per cent of Avro's shares in 1920, selling to Armstrong Siddeley Holdings in 1928, when Alliott Verdon Roe also sold his stakeholding in the company. Thus Avro became part of the Armstrong Siddeley Development Company, a sister company of Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. In 1935, Hawker Siddeley Aircraft was formed by the purchase of J. D. Siddeley's interests in automotive and engine manufacturer Armstrong Siddeley by Tommy Sopwith of Hawker Aircraft for ￡2 million. With the further addition of the Gloster Aircraft Company and Air Training Services, as well as Avro, the Hawker Siddeley Aircraft Group had aircraft manufacturers, an engine range and a significant training organisation as users of its products.
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