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The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has confirmed there will be no criminal probe into the collapse of MG Rover.

The SFO has reviewed documents relating to the transaction and the 2005 demise of the company and it has decided that there were no grounds "to initiate a criminal investigation”.

MG Rover went into administration in April 2005 with debts of almost £1.3 billion and the loss of 6000 jobs.

In July, following the publication of a four-year probe into the demise of MG Rove...Read the full article

hands up who's surprised by this?

what? no one?

Shocker.

Now can we see why this government was trying to bury this report?

Symanski:

Now can we see why this government was trying to bury this report?

Yes. They stood back and did nothing.  No help in 2000 when BMW tried to off load Rover and nothing when Mg/Rover needed there help in the latter days of 2005, yet they spend £16 million on this report and god knows what on the thousands of jobs lost in the midlands after the failure of MG/Rover,money that could have been used to support the company find a partner or help develop the replacement for the Rover 45 which would have made it better placed to find a partner on its own.  Because of the lack of help from this Labour government time just ran out.

daddy 3:

Because of the lack of help from this Labour government time just ran out.

Unfortunately MG Rover at that point was a lost cause.   Nobody could have brought it back from where it was.   If Labour was to blame it was for allowing the Phoenix Four to buy the company initally.   Labour were lazy in that they thougth the MG Rover problem was solved at that point, it was mearly put on ice.

The real damage was caused by the Phoenix Four.   BMW left a £500 million pound fund for restructuring, which they never did.   Nor did they invest in any new models, rather just refreshes of a tired designs.   They weren't then able to find any company willing to form any type of partnership.   They tried Fiat, and Fiat ran a mile!

It says a lot when they went to the Chinese, sold all the rights to the models while getting drunk on wine the Chinese kept making toasts to!   Sold off the crown jewels, all the IP rights, and were left with an inefficient manufacturing base which was producing less than a third of what Nissan does per worker.

If you're looking for blame for the final demise of MG Rover look no further than the Phoenix Four.   And if you like Labour for allowing them to.

Symanski:

If you're looking for blame for the final demise of MG Rover look no further than the Phoenix Four.  

find myself feeling nostalgic over the red brigades. i wonder what alfa has the biggest boot these days.

Symanski:

If you're looking for blame for the final demise of MG Rover look no further than the Phoenix Four.   And if you like Labour for allowing them to.

Agreed,   but the Labour government had been asked for support and then at the last minute with drew its offer of help leaving Rover selling everything they had just to survive hoping that the Chinnese would come to the rescue. BMW should also take some responsability in this as well, having sold Rover for a tenner, and offering a loan it took and shelved the replacement for the Rover 45 leaving Rover with not enough money to put into new cars and only to rehash the current line up. Again the Labour government were at that time involved with BMW and Phoenix venture holdings during the sale in 2000 and should have made sure that funds were available by Phoenix to run the company to survive (not just the offer of the loan from BMW), but all they wanted to do was get Rover off loaded with the minimum job losses before BMW just pulled the plug. 

daddy 3:

Agreed,   but the Labour government had been asked for support and then at the last minute with drew its offer of help leaving Rover selling everything

Phoenix Four were so bad a managing Rover that an extra £ 100 million or more wouldn't have done anything.   At that point, Labour were right to pull the plug as it would have been a waste of our money.   BUT perhaps they should have done more when Phoenix took over the company to ensure that it did have a future.

daddy 3:

BMW should also take some responsability in this as well

No.  No.   No.

BMW left them with a £ 500 million soft loan in the understanding it was to restructure the business.   They left with the clear understanding that the Phoenix Four would do that restructuring and find a technical partner for future models.   Phoenix Four never did that restructuring.

Let's be clear here.   At the time of the Phoenix Four taking over it was clear that for the business to survive that there would have to be job cuts, and that new models would need some joint partnership with another company to share platforms with.   They loved the limelight of being seen as saviours so never did the restructuring, and as such no other company would partner with them.   Why would you want to carry such a lame duck?

No matter how you look at it, from whichever angle, it comes back to poor management by the Phoenix Four.   Rover needed strong management to lead it in to the future.   Even the might of BMW wasn't enough to turn it around, but BMW did leave it with a new model - the 75.