British Business History - Finding the records and contributing to them

Some months ago in another part of the forum I asked for tips on searching for business records. I put the project to one side but having come back to it I took a different approach and have found several sources of information worth recommending.

1. Here is the National Archives introduction page on looking for records of a business.
2. The National Archives has a list of business history records held in the UK . It is quite comprehensive and worth looking at for specific businesses or industries
2. Mentioned on the NA website is the Business Archives Council which has been in business since 1934 but revitalised in 2005. What is refreshing about the information here is that there is a real interest in preserving business history. Some of the material is only available by subscription so it is worth seeing if your local archive has access to it.
3. If you know of a company of some historic significance going into liquidation or discover material relating to one that has already closed its doors it is worth bringing it to the attention of a local archive. BAC has a case study on one initiative.
4. Business history records can be good for business and a source of information, here are two examples , the memory store and HSBC . In both cases the company has an archivist.

 

Just came across a listing for business information held at London Metropolitan Archives.

 

Thanks for the links Britjan, very interesting, I wasn't aware of the memory store site.