The Barlow Report and the Bentham Report were two Government inquiries in 1942 that summarized the state of British shipbuilding after the depression of the 1930s.

From the Barlow Report:

No other vital industry suffered such an eclipse and its effect upon the present position is three-fold:

1. (i) Men skilled in the Industry had perforce to seek work elsewhere and a substantial number were permanently lost to it; in addition there was a stoppage of new entrants into the Industry.

2. (ii) A not unnatural reluctance on the part of the workpeople readily to admit of a further great expansion of the people employed in the Industry.

3. (iii) The Industry in general has not been able to maintain its equipment in the state of efficiency necessary for maximum war production …

From the Bentham Report:

Many of the firms which survived the slump found their financial reserves exhausted and in a number of cases financial reconstruction became necessary … Owing to financial stringency many works have been completely unable to spend money on necessary renovations or new plant and this during a time when engineering practice with regard to materials, tools, and machines was making great strides… The slump and financial position have had a tragic effect on managerial staff and organisation. Prospects of the shipbuilding industry have deterred capable and enterprising young men from entering the industry over a period of something like 20 years.