Grace's Guide
British Industrial History
Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 136,336 pages of information and 219,114 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.
Shirley Institute
From Graces Guide
Opened in April 1922 at Didsbury, near Manchester.
It owes its origin to meetings held in Manchester, during the period of the war, at which it was generally agreed that many investigations were needed in the cotton industry, and that any extensive system of research necessitated an improvement in the facilities for education. As the result of these meetings, it was decided to form a body called The British Cotton Industry Research Association which would be open to British corporations and firms engaged in any of the branches of the cotton industry and to corporate federations.[1]
1982 Described as "an international research and consultancy centre specialised consultancy centre specialising in textiles and fibres". Alasdair Maclean was appointed managing director.[2]