Overview of Business Archives in the UK
The preservation of the historical records of business has a long tradition in the UK. The first British businesses to make provision for their archives were the Bank of England and Midland Bank in the 1930s and a significant number of businesses began appointing archivists in the 1960s, spurred on by the activities of the Business Archives Council (founded in 1934). Most in-house corporate archives were established wholly or primarily to meet the needs of the business itself. These needs were varied - to identify and safeguard archives as a financial or historical asset; to retain records for operational and legal reasons; to prepare for a significant anniversary by compiling a company history or exhibition; or to make maximum use of the public relations potential of an old-established brand name.
The 1960s and 1970s also saw a growing interest in business and economic history amongst respected academic historians and an availability of funding for surveying business archives, such as the pioneering survey work of Glasgow University and the Business Archives Council. The National Register of Archives (founded 1945) listed business records separately in its publications from 1959 and some county and municipal record offices began to accession business archive collections as gifts and loans.
The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the increasing appointment of professional archivists to corporate archive posts as companies recognised the marketing value of such records and appointed specialists to look after archives, often as a natural adjunct to an ongoing modern records management programme. In 2000 the Business Records Group was created as one of the specialised interest groups operating within the Society of Archivist to represent the interests of archivists and records managers working with business archives.
Today over 80 companies operate formal archives and business archives and there are deposited collections in most local authority record offices and many specialist repositories. Those with substantive business collections include: Guildhall Library in the City of London; the Business Records Centre at Glasgow University Archives; Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick; Museum of English Rural Life and University Library, Reading University; School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; History of Advertising Trust in Norwich; Wellcome Library for Understanding the History of Medicine in London; the Archive of Art Design, Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester; National Maritime Museum, London; and National Railway Museum in York.
The National Archives and the National Archives of Scotland also hold collections relating to nationalised companies, such as railways, canals, docks and coal mining. They also hold archives documenting the interface between business and government, such as Board of Trade records, and business records that were produced in civil actions and not reclaimed.
Last modified 19/09/2006
