Raymond Horrocks

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(9 January 1930 - 15 July 2011) was a businessman from

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, and a chief executive of

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

(BL) through the turbulent late 1970s and early 1980s.

Early life

He attended Bolton Municipal Secondary School (Bolton County Grammar School from 1947, now known as

Bolton St Catherine's Academy Bolton St Catherine's Academy is a Mixed-sex education, mixed Church of England all-through school. The school is located in the Breightmet area of Bolton in the English county of Greater Manchester. The school was formed in September 2009 fro ...

Career

From 1944-50 he worked in the

textile industry. From 1948-50 he completed his National Service with the Intelligence Corps. From 1953-58 he was a merchandiser for M&S.

Ford

From 1963-72 he worked for

Ford of Britain Ford of Britain (officially Ford Motor Company Limited)The Ford 'companies' or corporate entities referred to in this article are: * Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan, USA, incorporated 16 June 1903 * Ford Motor Company Limited, incorpora ...

, later becoming a director of Europe and the Middle East (

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Britain, Ford Germany, and Irish Henr ...

British Leyland

He joined BL in 1978 being head hunted by the new chairman

Michael Edwardes Sir Michael Owen Edwardes (11 October 1930 – 15 September 2019) was a British-South African business executive who held chairmanships at several companies including motor manufacturer British Leyland. Education Edwardes was born in Port El ...

. He was managing director from 1980-81 of BL Cars, becoming chairman and chief executive from 1981-82. On 1 October 1982, BL was restructured into two main divisions, and from 1982-86 he was group chief executive of BL (Cars). He left BL at the end of April 1986 and was critical of the government's handling of the proposed privatisation.

Personal life

He married Pamela Russell in 1953; they had three daughters. He was awarded the CBE in the

1983 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in su ...

. He lived in

Pangbourne Pangbourne is a large village and civil parish on the River Thames in Berkshire, England. Pangbourne has its own shops, schools, a railway station on the Great Western main line and a village hall. Outside its grouped developed area is an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horrocks, Ray 1930 births 2011 deaths British Leyland people British manufacturing chief executives Chief executives in the automobile industry Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Ford executives Ford of Europe Intelligence Corps officers Marks & Spencer people People from Bolton People from Pangbourne