The Ryder Report was the official report produced for the

Government of the United Kingdom ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal coat of arms of t ...

in 1975 by Sir

Don Ryder Sydney Thomas Franklin Ryder, Baron Ryder of Eaton Hastings (16 September 1916 – 12 May 2003), known as Don Ryder, was a businessman and Labour peer. The one-time Chair of the National Enterprise Board, he was involved in the creation of the ...

, newly appointed head of the UK's

National Enterprise Board The National Enterprise Board (NEB) was a United Kingdom government body. It was set up in 1975 by the Labour government of Harold Wilson, to support the government's interventionist approach to industry. In 1981 the Conservative government of Mar ...

who was given the task of reporting on the

British Leyland Motor Corporation British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

(BLMC) and listing recommendations for its future. The report, titled "British Leyland: The Next Decade", was prepared by a team that included Bob Clark (Chairman of

Hill Samuel Hill Samuel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group's Offshore Private Banking unit. It was formerly a leading British merchant bank and financial services firm before the takeover by TSB Group Plc. in 1987, which itself merged with ...

), Fred MacWhirter (a senior partner of Peats) and Sam Gillen (the ex-head of

Ford UK Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

and

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Bri ...

). It was passed to

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

Secretary of State for Industry The secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The incumbent is a memb ...

, on 26 March 1975 only 14 weeks after commission. According to AROnline, " brief, the report made the following recommendations: * Donald Stokes should resign as company Chairman. * The grotty factory machinery should be replaced and as a matter of highest urgency. * A cohesive model strategy needed to be devised, cutting out the immense overlap in the company’s range. * The company should build a new test and development centre in order to facilitate more efficient development of new cars. * Industrial relations problems should be eradicated." The report recommended

capital expenditure Capital expenditure or capital expense (capex or CAPEX) is the money an organization or corporate entity spends to buy, maintain, or improve its fixed assets, such as buildings, vehicles, equipment, or land. It is considered a capital expenditure ...

of £1,264 million ("£2,090 million in inflated price terms" "over the eight years to end September 1982") from the government, backed up with a working capital of £260 million ("£750 million in inflated price terms"). If this was not taken it would be seen that the government had allowed the UK's leading car company to collapse and fail – a result that could have led to around one million people being put out of work. A result of adopting the report was the part-

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

of BLMC as the government bought shares in the company, until it became the majority shareholder. The company known largely just as "BL" would continue.

References

* * {{cite web , author = Sir Don Ryder, R. A. Clarke, S. J. Gillen, F. S. McWhirter, C. H. Urwhin , title = British Leyland: the next decade , url = https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/235318/0342.pdf British Leyland