Harold John Musgrove (born Birmingham, 1930) was the chairman of British Leyland's Austin Rover division between 1982–1986 and worked in several roles for the British

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

from 1991–2001.

British Leyland

Harold Musgrove had worked in various roles at

British Leyland 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 partly ...

and its predecessor Austin before being offered the role of Chairman of the volume car business Austin Rover in 1982 after the departure of

Sir Michael Edwardes Sir Michael Owen Edwardes (11 October 1930 – 15 September 2019) was a British-South African business executive who held chairmanships at several companies including motor manufacturer British Leyland. Education Edwardes was born in Port El ...

, reporting to Roy Horrocks, the chairman of British Leyland's new formed car group. One of his first jobs was to negotiate the contract with

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

over the XX agreement which would eventually become the Rover 800 and had to deal with the ''Trojan Horse'' political potato that had occurred with BL's previous collaboration, the

Triumph Acclaim The Triumph Acclaim is a front-wheel drive compact family saloon/sedan manufactured by British Leyland (BL) from 1981 to 1984. It is based on the Honda Ballade. It used a Honda-designed engine, was manufactured under licence from Honda, a ...

. Another of his major decisions was to clear the decks of the design team at Austin Rover.

David Bache David Ernest Bache (14 June 1925 – 26 November 1994) was a British automobile designer. For much of his career he worked with Rover. Early life Bache was born in Mannheim, Germany, the son of Aston Villa and England footballer Joe Bache who ...

had been running the team, and the LC10/LM11 project which eventually produced the

Austin Maestro The Austin Maestro is a five-door hatchback small family car (and two-door van derivative) that was produced from 1982 to 1987 by British Leyland, and from 1988 until 1994 by Rover Group, as a replacement for the Morris Marina and Austin Alleg ...

Austin Montego The Austin Montego is a British family car that was produced by British Leyland from 1984 until 1988, and then by Rover Group from 1988 until 1995. The Montego was the replacement for both the rear-wheel drive Morris Ital and the front-wheel ...

had been in the pipeline since 1977, and one of his ideas is said to have incited Musgrove into sacking Bache on the spot. He appointed

Roy Axe Royden Axe (September 1937 – 5 October 2010) was a British car designer. Early life and career Axe was born in Scunthorpe and attended Scunthorpe Grammar School (now St Lawrence Academy). Axe began his career in 1959 with the Rootes Group wh ...

who had been working the US for

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

and backed him setting up a new design studio at the former

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

plant at Canley. Due to the drop in performance of Austin Rover in 1984, Harold Musgrove was asked by the British Government, which had held a controlling stake in the business since

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, to look for savings. Musgrove persuaded the government to invest in the K Series engine which was to benefit and damage the company in the long term. In 1986 British Leyland's head of Cars Ray Horrocks had discussions with Ford about a buyout, however the collapse of

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

purchase of British Leyland's truck division meant the deal was stopped. Due to the press anger caused by this and the Westland sale, British Leyland's management was changed by the government bringing in

Graham Day Sir Judson Graham Day, (born 3 May 1933) is a British-Canadian business executive, lawyer and corporate director who now lives in Hantsport, Nova Scotia. Early life and education Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he graduated from Dalhousie Law ...

in 1986 to oversee the new business. Roy Horrocks, Musgrove's boss resigned and Musgrove followed shortly after when he was asked to sack Kevin Morley, the sales director, by

NHS

In 1991 Musgrove joined the NHS as chairman of the

West Midlands Ambulance Service The West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust (WMAS) is responsible for providing NHS ambulance services within the West Midlands region of England. It is one of ten ambulance trusts providing England with emergency medi ...

. He eventually left this role joining

Heartlands Hospital Heartlands Hospital is an acute general hospital in Bordesley Green, Birmingham, England. It is managed by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital has its origins in an infectious diseases hospital known as City ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

and oversaw the controversial merger with Solihull District Hospital during the mid 1990s. In 1998 Harold Musgrove became Chairman of the Worcester Health Services, closing accident and emergency services at

Kidderminster Hospital Kidderminster Hospital is an acute general hospital in Kidderminster in Worcestershire, England. It is managed by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. History The hospital has its origins in the Kidderminster Union Workhouse Infirmary w ...

and opening a new PFI funded hospital as part of a radical shakeup of services. However a

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

report in 2000 stated that the reforms left Worcestershire with "one of the lowest levels of hospital provision in the country". In 2001 Harold Musgrove resigned as the chairman of the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS trust.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musgrove, Harold 1930 births Living people English businesspeople Administrators in the National Health Service British Leyland people