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
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 M ...
, he was involved in the creation of the
Ryder Report, a restructuring plan for
British Leyland
British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...
during the 1970s.
Life
Born in
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has dive ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
,
Ryder attended
Ealing County Grammar School (as it was then known).
He was employed between 1950 and 1960 as editor at the London Stock Exchange Gazette, subsequently serving as the publication's managing director between 1961 and 1963. This proved the launch pad for a career in publishing and related businesses. He served as chairman and chief executive of
Reed International
RELX plc (pronounced "Rel-ex") is a British multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal information and analytics; ...
between 1968 and 1975. In that year, in a desperate bid to stem Britain's accelerating industrial decline, the recently elected
Wilson government created the
National Enterprise Board (NEB), as part of a more interventionist economic strategy. Don Ryder was
ennobled
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. Th ...
and appointed to chair the NEB, which he did between 1975 and 1977.
[
]
Personal
Don Ryder married Eileen Dodds in 1950. The marriage resulted in two recorded children.[
]
Honours
Knighted in 1972, Ryder was created a Life Peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...
as Baron Ryder of Eaton Hastings, of Eaton Hastings in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...
on 15 July 1975.
See also
*Austin Rover Group
The Austin Rover Group (abbreviated ARG) was a British motor manufacturer. It was created in 1982 as the mass-market car manufacturing subsidiary of British Leyland (BL). Previously, this entity had been known as BL Cars Ltd (formerly Leyland ...
References
1916 births
2003 deaths
Businesspeople awarded knighthoods
Knights Bachelor
Labour Party (UK) life peers
People educated at Ealing County Grammar School for Boys
20th-century English businesspeople
Life peers created by Elizabeth II
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