The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) was a non-departmental government body established by the

British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

to transfer technology from the public sector to the private sector.

History

The NRDC was established by Attlee's Labour government in 1948 to meet a perceived need at the time to exploit the many products that had been developed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

by the Defence Research Establishments.Cold War, Hot Science by Robert Budd, Page 373
/ref> It was set up by the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

under the Development of Inventions Act 1948 and the first

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

was Lord Giffard. The NRDC was established in India in 1953 to help develop and promote technologies developed at various national R&D institutions. The first commercial size

hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...

, the SR.N1, was built under a contract let by the NRDC to

Saunders-Roe Saunders-Roe Limited, also known as Saro, was a British aerospace and marine-engineering company based at Columbine Works, East Cowes, Isle of Wight. History The name was adopted in 1929 after Alliott Verdon Roe (see Avro) and John Lord took ...

in 1958. In 1981, the NRDC was combined with the

National Enterprise Board The National Enterprise Board (NEB) was a United Kingdom government body. It was set up in 1975 by the Labour government of Harold Wilson, to support the government's interventionist approach to industry. In 1981 the Conservative government of M ...

('NEB') to form the British Technology Group ('BTG').

Operations

Typically the NRDC would patent the product for commercial exploitation and earn royalties as private sector companies generated sales from those products. Examples of such products include

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

composites and developments in semi-conductor

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

. The development of the

would also not have taken place without the involvement of the NRDC. In the 1970s, a team of

Rothamsted Research Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural experiment station, agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founde ...

scientists discovered three

pyrethroids A pyrethroid is an organic compound similar to the natural pyrethrins, which are produced by the flowers of pyrethrums (''Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium'' and '' C. coccineum''). Pyrethroids are used as commercial and household insecticides. In ...

suitable for use as

insecticides Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, in ...

, namely

permethrin Permethrin is a medication and an insecticide. As a medication, it is used to treat scabies and lice. It is applied to the skin as a cream or lotion. As an insecticide, it can be sprayed onto outer clothing or mosquito nets to kill the insects ...

, cypermethrin and

deltamethrin Deltamethrin is a pyrethroid ester insecticide. Deltamethrin plays a key role in controlling malaria vectors, and is used in the manufacture of long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets; however, resistance of mosquitos and bed bugs to deltamethrin ...

. These compounds were subsequently licensed as NRDC 143, 149 and 161 respectively, to companies which then manufactured them for use worldwide.

List of chairmen

* 1950–1955:

Percy Mills, 1st Viscount Mills Percy Herbert Mills, 1st Viscount Mills, (4 January 1890 – 10 September 1968), known as Sir Percy Mills, Bt, between 1953 and 1957 and as The Lord Mills between 1957 and 1962, was a British industrialist, public servant and politician. Backgro ...

* 1955–1957: Sir Alan Arthur Saunders * 1957–1969:

William Black, Baron Black William Rushton Black, Baron Black (12 January 189327 December 1984) was a coachbuilder born in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria on 12 January 1893. After education at Barrow Secondary school and Barrow Technical College he was apprenticed as an engi ...

* 1969–1979: Frank Schon, Baron Schon

References

{{reflist

Source documents

* National Archive for the History of Computing, University of Manchester Economy of the United Kingdom Defunct public bodies of the United Kingdom Research and development in the United Kingdom 1948 establishments in the United Kingdom

History

Operations

List of chairmen

See also

References

Further reading

Source documents