The Geddes Committee is the name by which the United Kingdom's Shipbuilding Inquiry Committee of 1965-6 was more generally known. It took this name from its chairperson, Reay Geddes, the managing director of

Dunlop Rubber Dunlop Ltd. (formerly Dunlop Rubber) was a British multinational company involved in the manufacture of various natural rubber goods. Its business was founded in 1889 by Harvey du Cros and he involved John Boyd Dunlop who had re-invented and d ...

. The Geddes Committee was appointed in February 1965. Their remit was to consider ways to save the

shipbuilding industry Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

in the United Kingdom by achieving greater competitiveness through organisational changes and in the methods of production. The Committee was sponsored by the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

. They started gathering evidence from the Shipbuilding Conference and Shipbuilding Employers Federation, the Chamber of Shipping, the Dry Dock Owners and Repairers Central Council, the National Association of Marine Engineers, and the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions. The financial collapse of the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company occurred in October 1965, leading to the "

Fairfield Experiment The Fairfield experiment was an experiment in industrial relations carried out at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Glasgow, during the 1960s. The experiment was initiated by Sir Iain Maxwell Stewart, industrialist, chairman of ...

". The Geddes Committee published its report in 1966, calling for the reorganisation of UK shipbuilding into five large concerns. Harold Wilson's government accepted these recommendations and set up the Shipbuilding Industry Board (SIB) through the Shipbuilding Industry Act 1967.

References

{{reflist Public inquiries in the United Kingdom 1966 in the United Kingdom Shipbuilding in the United Kingdom