Press Report : MG Rover inquiry completed after four years

 Jim Pickard, Political Correspondent, Financial Times, 27th June, 2009

The long-awaited inquiry into the collapse of MG Rover has finally been completed* after four years and nearly £16m of taxpayers’ money.

The Business Department confirmed Friday night that it had received the findings of the investigation into the demise of the carmaker and said the report was in the hands of Lord Mandelson, Business Secretary.

However, a spokeswoman refused to comment on the details of the report, which has been superseded by immediate concerns about the fate of other car plants in the UK. The process has cost £15.9m, she admitted.

Ian Lucas, Business Minister, said in an answer to a private question by Richard Burden, a local MP, that the Government would carefully consider any similar exercises in the future to ‘minimise” the costs.

I have found it incredibly frustrating that we have had to wait so long for this report. The escalating cost of the inquiry has been a matter of real concern to so many people, including me.” Richard Burden MP

‘I have found it incredibly frustrating that we have had to wait so long for this report,” said Mr Burden. ‘The escalating cost of the inquiry has been a matter of real concern to so many people, including me.”

MG Rover, Britain’s last independent volume carmaker, went into administration in April 2005 with the loss of about 6,000 jobs.

Ministers then offered a ‘speedy” investigation, including a review of the role of the directors who had bought the company for £10 from BMW in 2000 – the so-called ‘Phoenix Four”. A report was expected within 18 months.

The lengthy investigation was led by Gervase MacGregor, a senior partner at BDO Stoy Hayward, an accountancy firm, and Guy Newey QC, an insolvency law specialist.

[Source: Financial Times]

[*Editor’s Note: The Financial Times’ report actually uses the word “published” here and in the headline. However, the use of that word may, in fact, be premature. See the News Blog by Jonathan Walker, the Political Editor of the Birmingham Post dated 26th June, 2009.] 

Clive Goldthorp

1 Comment

  1. Shocking to spend £16million on an inquiry. MG was sold to the Chinese for £53 million and look what they are doing with it now with all the defunct designs Rover couldn’t afford to develop.

    It is a disgrace that the Labour Government didn’t flinch for a second when it came to dumping Rover in 2005 and yet has found £££billions to bail out a load of useless spivs that purport to run our larger banks.

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