News

=News= Welcome to the News section of the project. On this page I'll include regular updates on the progress of the project (and this wiki), and some observations on some of the issues that have arisen out of this project so far

30 March 2011
Lots more companies up in the index. It's a tribute to the hard work put in by my predecessors at BACS that most of the companies have left some sort of trace in the archives of Scotland somewhere, even if it is only a basic record. The trick with some of the entries has been to find out how the current companies connect with what has already been listed. Perhaps the best example is A &J MacNab which due to its position as a holding company for a large investment firm actually has links to Holmes MacDougall, a well-respected and important Scottish publisher in the education sector, as well as the original A & J MacNab, who were dyers and launderers in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Aside from waiting for permission to publicise holdings (and I don't think I have anything that isn't already in the public domain, so hopefully this is a formality) I've completed 79 entries for the project, and I'm in some sort of contact with representatives of 15 of the other companies. Almost all of these names are on the index now. This doesn't mean I've found something for every company (as you may be able to see), but I've attempted contact through multiple methods, and bitten the bullet. If anyone can add to what I've written on any entry please email me.

3 March 2011
I think the replies to my letters and emails have now dried up, leaving me with a lot of phonecalls to make in the next couple of weeks to try and track down records of some of the companies. I've put details of our progress on the BAS blog (so far over half the companies have been completed), and put up a report on some of the survey work carried out for the project.

To add to the three companies below, I've had letters to Kinkell Holdings (incorporated in 1882, SC001124) and Edinburgh Hide Skin and Tallow Market (incorporated in 1874, SC000409) returned to me. I believe Kinkell became Earlsgate holdings (since dissolved) and that Edinburgh Hide Skin and Tallow Market had some relationship with Booth International in Kinghorn in Fife, but beyond this I don't know very much. Any help anyone can give would be much appreciated...

14 February 2011
I've added in the rest of the company entries that I have completed. So far I've been delighted with the response from archival institutions and business alike- nearly everyone I've spoken to or emailed has been very happy to help, and I've also received very useful advice and information through people contacting me directly. Over the next month and a half I'll be surveying record holdings of some companies who have held onto their records, and trying to chase up those that haven't yet responded to me.

As yet I've drawn a complete blank on only three companies. If anyone knows anything about The Scottish National Glass and Glazing Company Limited (SC001047, incorporated in 1881), Scottish Property Investment (SC001597 incorporated in 1887) or Spanish Real Property (SC000683, incorporated in 1876) please let me know. Thanks.

2nd February 2011
An unplanned break in progress! Since the last update I have been confirming some of the details that I had listed up earlier, and have started contacting some of the companies that I hope to involved in the project. I also attended the [|launch of the Strategy for Business Archives in Scotland], and last week got to see at first hand the fruits of the [|British Steel Archive Project]. The Completed Companies Index has been updated, and I will add in the names and details of the other completed companies shortly. I'm almost halfway through the project, and so far I have been cheered by the response from both archive repositories and outside business.

10th January 2011
Progress so far- I've spent most of the last month identifying those companies whose records are held in archival institutions, and I am in the process of placing some of the results on this wiki (see Completed Companies section). Over the next three months I'll be trying to contact the other companies to try and secure their support for the project, and also gain some sort of information about their surviving records. Hopefully this will lead to an increased chance of records surviving for access and use in the long term, for the benefit of the public and the companies alike.