‘I was not and I have never pretended to be a manufacturing expert, ever. I have no pretensions as to that.’ This quote is all the more curious when one considers that it is attributed to Lord Stokes, the man charged by the Labour Government in 1968 to get the British Motor Industry back on track during the 1970s.

In 1968, Stokes became the chairman and managing director of the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC), after the government-backed merger between British Motor Holdings (Austin/Morris/MG/Jaguar) and the Leyland Motor Corporation (Rover/Triumph), and faced the daunting task of making this disparate band of companies fighting fit.

However, the merger, which encompassed nearly 40 factories and over 100 businesses, became a symbol for the failure of government intervention in manufacturing – despite a promising start. In 1975 BLMC was bailed out by the government after nearly hitting bankruptcy in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis.

The idea that Stokes should be associated with British farce is an unfair one – British Leyland was a high profile failure that punctuated a career of success.

He joined truck-building company Leyland Motors in 1930 as an engineering apprentice and immediately found he had a gift of making the right decisions at the right time. By 1946, and after his war service, Stokes had climbed to the position of export development manager – and spearheaded the company’s overseas sales drive during the ‘Export or Die’ period.

His remarkable success story continued, and by 1953, had earned himself on Leyland board. Stokes’ appointment coincided with the general move towards rationalization and merger in the UK industry, and the ensuing years saw the company buy up rivals such as Albion Motors and Scammell Lorries, before making the jump into car production with the takeover of Standard-Triumph in 1961.

A couple of years later, Leyland Motor Corporation was formed, and Stokes became sales director of the corporation, then deputy chairman and managing director. Stokes revelled in the role, and ended up selling British hardware all over the globe – including Routemaster buses to Cuba!

The government became increasingly interested, and after securing his services and in 1966, a year after he was knighted for services to British export, became a member of the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation board. He was now a key advisor, and was called upon to ensure the future survival of Longbridge-based British Motor Holdings, which had not enjoyed a healthy margin, despite huge sales of the Mini and 1100 ranges.

In January 1968, the merger between BMH and Leyland was announced, although in effect, it was a takeover – with the majority of the key positions within the new company being taken up by former Leyland people. The merger created world’s fifth largest motor company, and it represented the hopes and dreams of the nation’s motor manufacturing industry, with Stokes steering the ship.

The pressure was now on to deliver – and Stokes’ team quickly realised that what BL needed was a car to fight the Ford Cortina in the fleet markets. Within three years, the Morris Marina was delivered, and from thereon in, a product-led recovery was planned – with the Triumph marque becoming the focus the company’s sportscar drive in the USA, Jaguar in the high-profit luxury class, Rover in the middle – and Morris for the fleets. Austin was to become the new pinnacle of advanced Euro-style engineering, with the Allegro at the forefront.

But time was running out, and Stokes found himself squeezed by the shocking industrial relations prevalent within the industry. Productivity and quality slumped, and although customer demand was there – there weren’t enough cars to go round. Time was running out.

Market share was surrendered, most notably to the Japanese importers. When the Oil Crisis hit in November 1973 followed by a global slow-down, BL was already mortally damaged. Its shrivelling bank balance sent the company spiralling towards bankruptcy.

In 1975 the Government called in Sir Don Ryder to sort out the mess. His report led to a radical government-sponsored restructuring of it as British Leyland (BL), without Stokes. He continued as president of BL until 1981.

Lord Stokes, industrialist, was born on March 22, 1914. He died on July 21, 2008, aged 94.