About the 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's 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.