Nuffield Organization

Nuffield Organization

Nuffield Organization advertisement: 1951
Predecessor	The Morris Organizations
Successor	British Motor Corporation
Formation	1943 (1943)
Founder	William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield
Headquarters	Cowley, Oxford
Services	Health and automotive industry
Leader	William Morris, Viscount Nuffield

Nuffield Organization was the unincorporated umbrella-name or promotional name used for the charitable and commercial interests of owner and donor, William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield. The name was assumed following Nuffield's gift made to form his Nuffield Foundation in 1943, it linked his business interests to his existing very generous philanthropy. The same enterprises had previously been referred to as the Morris Organizations and at first described itself as The Nuffield Organization, A Cornerstone of Britain's Industrial Structure.

The productive businesses were owned by Morris Motors Limited and this corporate structure appears to have been retained until the formation of British Leyland in 1968.

An agreement was reached between Morris and Austin Motor Company in October 1948 amounting to amalgamation in everything but financial structure. The terms included the constant interchange of information on production methods, research, design, buying and almost every other aspect of their work. It also envisaged the pooling of factory resources. In July 1949 Morris and Austin announced the end of their scheme, no further steps would be taken to pool production resources and no merger of any kind was contemplated.

"Nuffield and Austin broke off arrangements for the exchange of confidential information in 1949 following the revival of long-standing hostilities between their chief executives and the Labour Party's decision not to include the industry in its plans for future nationalisation." Leonard Lord, chief of Austin, had been with Morris from 1923 to 1936, the last four years as Morris's chief executive. They had parted on extremely bad terms.

The Motoring Correspondent of The Times said the two concerns were fundamentally different in their structure. The Nuffield Organization under the control of Morris Motors made: three Morris models with Wolseley (two), Riley (two), MG (two) as well as Morris Commercial trucks, Nuffield Universal tractors and marine engines. The main factory was at Cowley, Oxford, there were more at Birmingham, Coventry and Abingdon. The Austin business, Austin of England, was highly concentrated both in its huge Longbridge factory at Birmingham and in its products: six Austin car models, Austin trucks and marine engines and battery electric vehicles.