The British Motor Corporation 1933-2013: What it could have been…

The history of BMC, starting with the real history, and then going on to the new, alternate history.

In the beginning there was Morris Motors Limited (including MG,) created and run with ruthless efficiency by William Morris, who, of what I can see, had a range of talents all based around or directed towards creating a successful business. Morris was a great manager, but I believe he was even more of ‘a player’. He showed remarkable control of his own business, exerting full control over every element of the business, especially in respect of the finances. He always knew exactly where every penny was – and it was always working. His control of the business was complete, but not without consequences. He had a reputation for cutting costs where ever possible, often at the expense of his employees. Working conditions were very poor, development and maintenance were sadly lacking, so the factories were often obsolete and outdated. Wages were minimal and accidents at work were very common. He used his remarkable business skills to create partnerships with would be sub-contract suppliers, giving him a situation where he had almost total of the prices being charged by the majority of his suppliers. Combing these factors made Morris a very successful, wealthy individual

Morris was misplaced in his career – he had longed to become a surgeon, which would explain why he gave an estimated £30,000,000 to various charities, with a great bias towards the medical profession. Part of his heritage was the establishment of the Nuffield Trust (which he directly created) and what became Nuffield Health which Morris funded and presided over. These organisations took centre stage in his endeavours and both are still running today (Jan 2026). In 2024-2025 Nuffield Trust had a capital value of £104,000,000 (one hundred and four million) while the Nuffield Health Group turned over £1,450,000,000 (one point 45 billion). BUPA, for its part managed £16,900,000,000 (sixteen point nine billion). I’m confident that Morris sunk the vast majority of his fortune into the Nuffield Trust, of which Morris Cars Ltd was a part – but, I suspect it was a small, almost insignificant part and at worst it was merely tolerated. Morris Cars Ltd ‘left’ the Nuffield Trust in 1952 when it merged with Austin Motors Ltd. The Nuffield Trust held their shares in 1952 but Morris Car shares became an ever smaller part of the Nuffield portfolio, and was completely ‘let go’ in 1977.

Morris – the man. My understanding is that Morris was not a great people person, and he was very much at loggerheads with Morris Cars by the start of World War 2. Morris was extremely anti-semitic, believing that the British Government was covertly run by Jews. He was equally anti-union, a fought with all his might to beat the communist backed strikes in his factories in 1934 (over the previously mentioned low wages and poor conditions), although he lost the fight. t the same time, Morris provided substantial financial support to Moseley and the British Fascists, who were gaining popularity on the back of the apparent restoration of Germany by Adolf Hitler and his Fascist Party. Knowing that he was ‘control driven’, I suspect that he felt a sense of loathing at having to deal with people (especially employees) who were involved with either Socialists or Communists on a day to day basis. The ‘control infatuation’ is borne out by 2 other potential interactions: In 1927, around the time Morris purchased Wolseley Cars Ltd in a pitched battle with Herbert Austin, Austin is said to have suggested a merger of Austin and Morris. Morris declined, probably because he felt he would lose too much control by sharing the business. Later, in 1933, rising star Leonard Lord was suddenly removed from the post of Managing Director of Morris Cars Ltd, as a result of a confrontation between himself and Morris. I believe Lord could see what was coming with the unions and equally saw Morris’s resentment. I believe Lord would have suggested that Morris resign as Chairman of Morris Cars Ltd and let Lord take on the role, leaving Morris free to concentrate on his philanthropic activities. Assuming Morris could see war coming (which I’m sure he could) and knowing the potential to make vast amounts of profit through war work, there was no way he was going to let that ‘ship’ be captained by Lord, with Morris having almost no power. Removing Lord at that time was undoubtedly a last resort and definitely not in the short term interests of Morris Cars. It’s my belief that the same action was a huge element of the overall collapse of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) many years later. Morris relented in 1934 and re-employed Lord – but in the Nuffield Trust, with no access to Morris Cars Limited. what followed was years of conflict between the 2 men, until Lord resigned to take up the running of Austin Cars Limited in 1938. Around the same time, Morris was struggling with his huge over promise to build Spitfire fighter planes for the British Government. The project was almost farcical from the outset, including a 200% increase in costs and in fact Morris never completed a single plane.

There was also Austin Cars Limited (including ), run by Herbert Austin since it’s formation in