Edwardes, Michael Owen (1930– )

South African business executive. He was chairman of the Chloride Group (1969) before being brought in by the UK government to run the financially troubled British Leyland (BL) motor company (1977–82). At a turbulent period in BL's history, with high-profile strikes and low productivity, Edwardes was widely credited with the company's survival. In 2000 he became a prominent campaigner against the UK joining the euro.

Nationalized in 1975, BL had made substantial financial losses, and its cars were considered unreliable. In 1979 Edwardes proposed a survival plan to streamline BL plants and reduce the workforce by over 25,000. He threatened to close down the company if the plan was rejected by BL staff, but it was approved by an overwhelming seven-to-one majority.

Edwardes has since been a member of the anti-euro group Business for Sterling, chairman of Tryhorn Investments, and a director of Strand Partners and Syndicated Services Co. Inc.

He was educated at St Andrew's College, Grahamstown, South Africa, and graduated from Rhodes University. He joined the Chloride Group in 1951, became a manager of its Alkaline Batteries subsidiary in the UK in 1966, and chairman of the group in 1969. He was knighted in 1979.

His publications include Back From the Brink (1983).