GeneralU.K.
54 Service of notices.U.K.
(1)This section shall have effect in relation to any notice or other document required or authorised by or under this Act to be given to or served on any person.
(2)Any such document may be given to or served on the person in question—
(a)by delivering it to him, or
(b)by leaving it at his proper address, or
(c)F1...F1...F1... by sending it by post to him at that address, F1...
F2(d). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3)Any such document may—
(a)in the case of a body corporate, be given to or served on the secretary or clerk of that body;
(b)in the case of a partnership, be given to or served on a partner or a person having the control or management of the partnership business.
(4)For the purposes of this section and section 26 of the M1Interpretation Act 1889 (service of documents by post) in its application to this section, the proper address of any person to or on whom a document is to be given or served shall be his last known address, except that—
(a)in the case of a body corporate or their secretary or clerk, it shall be the address of the registered or principal office of that body;
(b)in the case of a partnership or a person having the control or management of the partnership business, it shall be that of the principal office of the partnership;
and for the purposes of this subsection the principal office of a company registered outside the United Kingdom or of a partnership carrying on business outside the United Kingdom shall be their principal office within the United Kingdom.
(5)If the person to be given or served with any document mentioned in subsection (1) above has specified an address within the United Kingdom other than his proper address within the meaning of subsection (4) above as the one at which he or someone on his behalf will accept documents of the same description as that document, that address shall also be treated for the purposes of this section and section 26 of the Interpretation Act 1889 as his proper address.
(6)If the name or address of any person having an interest in premises to or on whom any document mentioned in subsection (1) above is to be given or served cannot after reasonable enquiry be ascertained, the document may be given or served—
(a)by addressing it to him either by name or by the description of “the owner” or, as the case may be, “the occupier” of the premises and describing them, and
(b)either by delivering it to some responsible person on the premises or by affixing it, or a copy of it, to some conspicuous part of the premises.
Textual Amendments
F1Words in s. 54(2)(c) repealed (22.7.2004) by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2004 (c. 14), Sch. 1 Pt. 16 Group 1
F2S. 54(2)(d) repealed (22.7.2004) by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2004 (c. 14), Sch. 1 Pt. 16 Group 1
Marginal Citations
55 Administrative expenses.U.K.
Any administrative expenses incurred by the Secretary of State in connection with the provisions of this Act shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.
56 Interpretation.U.K.
(1)In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires,—
(a)a company falling within Part I of Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 to this Act, or
(b)a company in respect of which the obligation to give notice under section 26(9) above has arisen, other than an excluded company;
“aircraft industry vesting date” means such date as the Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument specify for the purposes of section 19(1) of this Act;
“the Corporations” means British Aerospace and British Shipbuilders, and references to a Corporation shall be construed accordingly;
“date of transfer” shall be construed in accordance with subsection (5) below;
“enactment” includes an enactment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly;
“excluded company” has the meaning assigned to it by section 27(11) above;
“functions” includes powers and duties;
“guided weapon” does not include a torpedo;
“holding company” shall be construed in accordance with [F4section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006];
“loan capital”, in relation to any company, means the securities of the company which do not form part of the share capital;
“mortgage” in relation to Scotland, means a heritable security within the meaning of section 9(8) of the M2Conveyancing and Feudal Reform (Scotland) Act 1970;
“notice of disclaimer” has the meaning assigned to it by section 31(6) above;
“the relevant Corporation”, in relation to a company which comes into public ownership, or in relation to any securities of such a company, means the Corporation in which vest, on the date of transfer, the securities of that company or of the company of which it is a wholly owned subsidiary;
“the relevant vesting date” means—
(a)in relation to British Aerospace or a company which becomes, or would but for the provisions of section 27 of this Act become, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Aerospace, the aircraft industry vesting date
F7(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“securities”, in relation to a company, means any shares, debentures, debenture stock, loan stock, income notes, income stock, funding certificates and securities of a like nature;
“” includes stock resulting from the conversion of any share into stock;
“shipyard” includes any berth, dock or slipway used for the construction of ships;
“subsidiary” has [F9the meaning given by] s[F4 section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006];
“wholly owned subsidiary” has the same meaning as it has for the purposes of [F10section 1159 of the Companies Act 2006]; and
“works” means, subject to subsection (6) below,—
(a)any factory, within the meaning of the M3Factories Act 1961,
(b)any aerodrome, as defined in [F11section 105(1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1982],
(c)any shipyard which does not fall within paragraph (a) above, and
(d)any premises used by way of trade or business for the purposes of the storage, transport or distribution of any articles or for the supply of electricity or other form of power,
together with any machinery or equipment installed in any such factory, shipyard or premises and any land occupied for the purposes referred to in paragraph (d) above.
(2)For the purposes of this Act, in relation to land in England, Wales or Northern Ireland,—
(a)“own” includes hold on lease;
(b)“rights of ownership” means an estate in fee simple or a lease; and
(c)property owned by a member of a partnership and held by him for the purposes of the partnership shall be deemed to be owned by each of the members of the partnership.
(3)For the purposes of this Act, in relation to land in Scotland,—
(a)“own” includes hold on lease;
(b)[F12 “ rights of ownership ” means—
(i) if the land is feudal property, the estate or interest of the proprietor of the dominium utile, or
(ii)if the land is not feudal property, the estate or interest of the owner, or
(iii)a lease; and]
[F12“rights of ownership” means the rights—
(i)of an owner; or
(ii)of a tenant under a lease;]
(c)property owned by a member of a partnership and held by him for the purposes of the partnership shall be deemed to be owned by the firm.
(4)Any reference in this Act to a company which comes into public ownership is a reference to an acquired company or a company which, on the date of transfer of an acquired company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of that company; and any reference to a company coming into public ownership shall be construed accordingly.
(5)Subject to section 27(7)(b) of this Act, in relation to a company which comes into public ownership, any reference in this Act to the date of transfer is a reference—
(a)in the case of a company falling within Part I of Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 to this Act or the wholly owned subsidiary of such a company, to the relevant vesting date; and
(b)in the case of any other company which comes into public ownership, to the date on which the securities of the company or, as the case may be, of the company of which it is a wholly owned subsidiary vest in a Corporation by virtue of section 26 above.
(6)For the purposes of this Act—
(a)notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) above, the expression “works” does not include any factory, aerodrome, shipyard or other premises or land situated outside the United Kingdom;
(b)the extension, alteration or re-equipment of any works or the replacement of any machinery or equipment therein shall not be deemed to change the identity of the works; and
(c)in determining whether a company is operating any works at a particular time, any temporary closing of the works at that time owing to holidays, repairs or for any other reason shall be disregarded.
(7)For the purposes of this Act the securities of a company to which the same rights attach shall be deemed to constitute a class of securities, and the date of issue of any securities shall be deemed to be the date on which a resolution allotting those securities is passed.
(8)For the purposes of this Act a person controls a company or other body corporate if he is entitled to exercise or to control the exercise of at least one third of the voting power at any general meeting of that body corporate.
Textual Amendments
F3Words in s. 56(1) omitted (22.3.2013) by virtue of The Public Bodies (Abolition of British Shipbuilders) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/687), art. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 3(4)(b)(i)
F4Words in s. 56(1) substituted (1.10.2009) by The Companies Act 2006 (Consequential Amendments, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1941), art. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 36(3)(b) (with art. 10)
F5S. 56(1) entries repealed (22.7.2004) by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2004 (c. 14), Sch. 1 Pt. 16 Group 1
F6Words repealed by Employment Act 1980 (c. 42, SIF 43:5), s. 20(3), Sch. 2
F7Words in s. 56(1) omitted (22.3.2013) by virtue of The Public Bodies (Abolition of British Shipbuilders) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/687), art. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 3(4)(b)(ii)
F8Words in s. 56(1) omitted (22.3.2013) by virtue of The Public Bodies (Abolition of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Arbitration Tribunal) Order 2013 (S.I. 2013/686), art. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 3(3)
F9Words substituted by Companies Act 1989 (c. 40, SIF 27), ss. 144(4), 213(2), Sch. 18 para. 16 (subject to the transitional provisions referred to in S.I. 1990/1392, arts. 2(d), 6)
F10Words in s. 56(1) substituted (1.10.2009) by The Companies Act 2006 (Consequential Amendments, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1941), art. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 36(3)(c) (with art. 10)
F11Words substituted by Civil Aviation Act 1982 (c. 16, SIF 9), s. 109(2), Sch. 15 para. 18
F12S. 56(3)(b) substituted (S.) (28.11.2004) by Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 (asp 5), ss. 71, 77(2), Sch. 12 paras. 38 (with ss. 58, 62, 75); S.S.I. 2003/456, art. 2
Marginal Citations
57 Short title and extent.U.K.
(1)This Act may be cited as the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977.
(2)This Act extends to Northern Ireland.