Business Archives Council

Founded in 1934, the objectives of the BAC are to:

• Promote the preservation of business records of historical importance;
• Supply advice and information on the administration and management of both archives and modern records;
• Encourage interest in the history of business in Britain.

The Council produces an electronic newsletter and the past publication programme Business Archives is available online. Other Council publications include Managing Business Archives and Business History Explorer. In recent years surveys of the archives of brewing, banking and shipbuilding have been published, as has a survey of the archives of 1,000 of the oldest registered companies in Britain.

The Council is a registered charity and derives much of its income from the annual subscriptions of its members. These include business organisations, libraries and other institutions, and individual archivists, records managers, business people and historians. An annual conference gives members the opportunity to meet, as well as to hear papers on themes of current interest.

Download an explanatory leaflet to find out more about the Council’s activities and how to explore business archives.

Business archives are rich source for local historians – BAC provides a search facility to company histories and publications to kick start research. Typing shoe into the quick search is a good illustration of the coverage (obviously better for some sectors than others) https://businesshistoryexplorer.businessarchivescouncil.org.uk/search

The Business Archives Council’s Research Support Bursary offers financial support for anyone wanting to conduct research on business/organisational archives in England and Wales who doesn’t have access to funding. It’s a simple Googleform to apply and no CVs or academic credentials/affiliations are required. Preference is given to people wanting to access business-run archives but we also consider research using business records in public collections. All details are available here https://businessarchivescouncil.org.uk/activitiesobjectives/bursary/

NOTE: The current period for making applications for bursaries closes on 20th September 2024.