A RUN FOR YOUR MONEY

In the latest from our new series, ZENA HAWLEY looks back at the day Derby saw a rush on the building society as Rolls-Royce crashed, when the livelihoods of thousands was at stake as the struggle to save the company began

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situation'. That was of little comfort to the thousands of Derby families whose livelihoods relied on the stability of the engineering firm.

The following day, the Government's plans to nationalise the business were said to be “to save, not windup, RR”

But dramatic speculation in the national media did little to calm fears, with the Daily Mirror reporting that 20,000 workers were about to be made redundant.

According to the Daily Sketch: “Rolls-Royce did not even have enough money in the kitty to meet the weekly payroll demand and would have faced prosecution under the Companies Act if they had continued to trade.”

The Times used its front page as a virtual pictorial obituary to the company, while the Guardian was a little more positive, stating that as many as 67,000 jobs could be saved.

It was not until March that estimated redundancies of around 4,600 were announced. These were mainly made up of workers in the company’s offices. Some 2,000 would come from the local area, including sites at Derby, Chesterfield and Ilkeston. However, the remaining workforce was warned that, should the RB211 project be cancelled, the total job losses would be much, much higher.

For weeks, it seemed as though the town’s very future hung in the balance, and rumours, both well-founded and ill-founded, continued to spread like wildfire.

There was even speculation that the RAF, which relied heavily on Rolls-Royce for its engines, would become unworkable should the company go into liquidation.

But little did you know that one man is credited for the fight to save Rolls-Royce above many others - the late former Derby North MP Philip Whitehead - and his intervention was probably his greatest lasting legacy to Derby.

Mr Whitehead saw it as his duty to do everything he could to rescue the firm by calling on the Government to come in and help.