 James Blythe turned down the suggested products, even refusing to meet with the Shop Stewards to discuss them.The Lucas Aerospace workforce continued to decline and eventually the Company was either taken over by American competitors or ceased to exist altogether.This sad decline from a Company that employed 18,000 skilled workers and technicians in 1970 and was at the forefront of the U.K. Aerospace Component Industry took place while James Blythe was in charge.