National Enterprise Board

1975 After many years of discussion, the Labour government established the National Enterprise Board (NEB) as its vehicle to achieve industrial re-organisation

1976 The government holding in various companies was vested in the NEB:

• British Leyland
• Rolls-Royce
• Ferranti
• Herbert
• Cambridge Instruments
• Brown Boveri Kent

Transfer of the holding in ICL was awaiting agreement with the other major shareholders. Another was Dunford and Elliott

1976 Invested in small and medium companies:

• A controlling interest in Data Recording Instrument Co
• A one-third interest in Agemaspark
• Twinlock
• Reed and Smith, to modernise a paper mill in Somerset
• Sinclair Radionics, to help develop calculators and a miniature TV
• Anglo-Venezuelan Railway Corporation

Also sold the interest in Dunford and Elliott to Lonrho. Formed United Medical Co to wholesale British medical supplies overseas.

1977 Formed Keland Electrics from assets recovered from the liquidator; invested in R. R. Chapman (Sub Sea Surveys); aid to Francis Shaw and Co, plastics and rubber machinery maker; aid to White, Child and Beney. Formed British Tanners Products with Barrow Hepburn. Small amount of funds invested in Mollart Engineering Co and Packaging Methods. The Government instructed NEB to work with the turbine generators makers and the boiler makers to merge into 2 enterprises supplying power generation systems. Leslie Murphy, deputy chairman, took over from Lord Ryder as chairman.

1977 Injected funds and took control of Thwaites and Reed, clock makers

1977 For the first time, entered into a bidding contest - this for Fairey's British assets, where the NEB controversially outbid Trafalgar House. Its other holdings were:

• British Leyland
• Rolls-Royce
• Data Recording Instrument Co
• Ferranti
• Herbert
• Sinclair Radionics
• British Tanners Products
• Cambridge Instruments
• Computer Analysts and Programmers
• ICL
• Pitcraft
• Systime
• Twinlock
• Brown Boveri Kent
• Francis Shaw.

1978 Sold Thwaites and Reed at a significant loss

1979 Sold the 25 percent of ICL that it owned

1980 Sold the 20 percent holding in Brown Boveri Kent at a loss

1981 the Conservative government combined the National Research Development Corporation with the National Enterprise Board to form the British Technology Group ('BTG').

1981 NEB sold some of its holding in Twinlock but made substantial losses on sale of Nexos office systems company and the US operations of Insac; also made substantial provision for start-up costs of the Data Recording Instrument JV; by the end of the year, had interests in 46 companies

1984 Sold its stake in SPL International

See Also

Loading...