Explainer

20 years since MG Rover closed in Longbridge: History of one of Britain's most esteemed carmakers

On 15 April 2005 MG Rover Group closed, leaving thousands of people in Birmingham without a job. Including Andy and Gemma Cartwright (above).

On 15 April 2005 MG Rover Group closed, leaving thousands of people in Birmingham without a job.

The company's main factory in Longbridge had been running for a century when it went into administration, leading to over 6,000 redundancies.

Gemma and Andy Cartwright - who along with thousands of others, got the terrible news 20 years ago.

Ms Cartwright said: "All of a sudden it was a full stop. The area went calm but it also went quiet.

"I think that was quite hard to think we could just be a shell."

Gemma was among those who’d been fighting to keep Rover going in its struggling years before the closure.

It’s estimated that more than 31,000 jobs were lost because of the closure of MG Rover, 6,000 from the Longbridge site, 25,000 or so from related supply industries.

There has been regeneration on the site since, but for those whose lives changed two decades ago - the gates - and the logo - stand as reminders of a manufacturing future that could’ve been.

But it left behind a proud and eventful history, right in the heart of the Midlands.

1905: The first car left the production line in Longbridge, made by Herbert Austin's Austin Motor Company Ltd.

1917: Herbert Austin was knighted for helping Britain's war efforts. During the First World War, the company produced shells, guns, aeroplanes, engines and trucks.

World War Two again saw Longbridge leap into action, producing thousands of aircraft including Hurricane fighters and Lancaster bombers.

1952: Austin and Morris Motors merged to form the British Motor Corporation. Seven years later, the first Morris Mini Minor, the classic Mini, was first made.

1968: The British Motor Corporation was amalgamated into British Leyland before it underwent a series of name and ownership changes.

1986: It became known as the Rover Group, which was then sold to British Aerospace in 1988, before it was bought by BMW in 1994, who sold it to the Phoenix Consortium in 2000 for just £10.

2005: The group went into receivership and car production was suspended in April 2005. In July that year, Chinese manufacturer Nanjing Automobile Group purchased the rights to the MG marque.

2007: Nanjing Automobile was acquired by SAIC Motor, who launched the first all-new MG model for 16 years in 2011 (the MG6). It was assembled in China and in Longbridge.

2016: MG announced that all car production had ceased at Longbridge.

2023: MG Motor introduced the Cyberster electric vehicle, which went on sale a year later.

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