Short and Harland Ltd not formed

[PMN1]

Being majority government owned (since the middle of WW2) and being based in Belfast has made Short and Harland a special case when allocation of manufacturing contracts was being decided.

If Shorts Bros., Ltd had formed a company with another shipbuilder outside of Northern Ireland, rather than with Harland and Wolff, what changes in allocation of production contracts would you expect to see?

[PMN1]

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=87104

On Post 6 by Alertken, suggests 'Short and Harland Ltd. had been shot-gunned by Minister Swinton 6/36 as part of his shadow system. To liberate Rochester to do Stirling, Sunderland was to be built by shipwrights, as it floated and its wing sat more on a keel than a spar.'

Was the formation of Short and Harland a result of the Shadow Program, were any other shipbuilders looked at?