It is a fascinating account detailing his time at the helm of BL from 1977 - 82.
It is amazing that any cars left the factories at all, let alone our beloved TR7's. According to the book the company was close on more than one occasion to having the plug pulled completely, due to industrial action and questions over government funding. The sums of taxpayers money provided are staggering, around 1 billion pounds. Although this is also around the figure that it would have cost (redundancies etc) if things did go down the pan.
It talks about productivity (or lack of it), the powers of the unions, weak management, the knock on effects of BL bashing from the press to the government. And ultimately the desire of many people (from the prime minister(s), BL board, the workforce, dealers and unions) to stop the company going under.
There were issues with government policies that crucified exports, costs etc such as the value of the pound and interest rates - bit of de jar vu here - and the government’s desire for the company to return to private ownership.
It talks about factory closures, in particular Speke, the goading of unions telling workers that they couldn’t and wouldn’t close it, and that the government would not allow it. To pay increases, strikes, how things were changed, managed, products introduced, productivity and effort of both the workforce and management
There is a good account of the Metro, development and launch; the Triumph Acclaim - to test whether a collaboration would work and to fill a gap until the Maestro and Montego came out. With mention of other possible deals with companies such as Renault; along with the Honda tie-up which resulted in the Rover 800.
As a child I remember many of the things that were going on and the uncertainty of things as my dad worked at a BL dealership, but I also remember the optimism of the Metro, the little car that took on the world.
I am not aware of material available from other parties such as the unions to hear their point of view, but I would say that this is a very balanced account of what happened in those troubled times. Sadly we are all aware of what happened with MG Rover following phoenix-gate, so perhaps it was all in vain. Or on the other hand you could look at it and say that many of the cars we talk about here would not have happened.
If you are interested in the events of the British motor industry, particularly around this time then it really is worth obtaining a copy of this book.
Regards
Simon
TRR676R Speke Built 2.0L Tahiti Blue TR7
1969 Mk2 Vitesse Convertible
1997 Rover 800 Vitesse Coupe
