ABSTRACT
In terms of the material goods of war, excluding naval ships, the procurement system came under the control of the Contracts Branch of the War Office. Private armaments firms constituted an important component of the procurement system, but they were also in competition for contracts not only with each other, but also with the Royal Ordnance Factories organised and managed by the stat. At the core of supply was the British government's procurement system, administered by the agencies of the War Office and the Admiralty. The Coventry Ordnance Works (COW) was not the only firm to suffer delays in entering the comfort of the naval procurement system, as exemplified by the experience of the shipbuilders William Beardmore, which was half-owned by Vickers. The Treasury found in favour of the War Office, judging that an open' procurement system would be more cost-effective and would help safeguard supplies in a future emergency.
