Data Recording Instrument Co
Maker of computer peripherals (tape and disc memories, printers, etc), of Hawthorne Rd, Staines, Middx (1974)
1956 Founded by C. Hardy[1] and Stanley W. Grundy to make magnetic recording heads[2]
1968 Was a subsidiary of ICT; had 2 teams working on development of disc stores for computers[3]; ICT became part of ICL that year.
1972 ICL sold its 70 percent share in the company to Grundy (Teddington) Ltd which already held 30 percent; DRI supplied 70 percent of its products to ICL but expected the non-ICL parts of the business to grow; Geoffrey Cross, managing director of ICL, would join the board of DRI[4]
1974 NRDC provided support for research and development at the company, initially taking 10 percent of the equity and making a loan available[5] later rising t 45 percent, with Grundy (Teddington) owning 55 percent
Employed about 1000 people in Staines
1974 Formed JV with US company Nortronics, called DRI-Nortronics, to serve the European market with recording heads for a variety of tasks[6]
1976 National Enterprise Board provided funds for the company, giving the NEB controlling interest[7]
1977 With Grundy and Partners of Stonehouse, Glos, jointly marketed a display panel TRUEDATA[8]
1978 Acquired Newbury Laboratories, maker of low cost visual display units, which would help the group expand its range of products. The company was reorganised with a new company Data Recording Equipment Co created to continue the computer peripheral activities; this and Data Recording Heads and Newbury Labs would be subsidiaries of Data Recording Instrument which would become the holding company[9]
1980 Invested $9 million in Decision Data Computer Corporation of the USA, in exchange for a stake in the company; allowed DRI to make equipment for Decision Data which sold them in the USA[10]
1982 BTG created a new company, Newbury Data Recording, combining 2 of its client companies Data Recording Equipment Co of Staines, maker of dot matrix printers, and Newbury Laboratories, maker of visual display unit; the new company would be the largest British-owned supplier of computer peripherals and would market peripherals from other British companies too[11]
1983 Received $22 million from sale of part of the holding in Decision Data; now only held 4.2 percent of that company
1984 DRI was one of BTG's more profitable subsidiaries; 65 percent was sold to financial institutions[12]. Renamed DRI Holdings
1986 Reported lower turnover but higher profits[13]
1987 Sold the cluster-controller business to Micro-Scope[14]
At some point after this must have been acquired by FKI Electricals but not sure when this happened
1994 One of a number of businesses which were acquired by Wellmann from FKI[15]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Wireless World, Volume 70, 1964
- ↑ Electronic Engineering, Volume 46, 1974
- ↑ Data and Control, 1968
- ↑ The Times, Sep 21, 1972
- ↑ The Times Mar 12, 1974
- ↑ Billboard 13 Jul 1974
- ↑ The Times, Jul 22, 1976
- ↑ Data Systems, 1977
- ↑ The Times, Jan 13, 1978
- ↑ The Times, Dec 01, 1983
- ↑ The Times, Jun 10, 1982
- ↑ The Times, Aug 14, 1984
- ↑ The Times August 28, 1986
- ↑ The Times, April 02, 1987
- ↑ The Times, July 19, 1994