Collection

CBI Council and Committee circulars, 1965-[ongoing]; CBI Committee minutes, 1965-[ongoing]; papers of CBI Presidents, CBI Directors General and CBI Secretaries, c. 1950s-[ongoing] (mainly post-1965); directorate subject files, c. 1950s-[ongoing] (mainly post-1965); annual reports, 1965-[ongoing]; publications, 1965- [ongoing]; CBI News/Business Voice and predecessor titles, 1966-2011; regional records, 1948-97 (mainly post-1965). Cardiff firms are mentioned in a Company Affairs Directorate, Research and Technology Committee survey of competitiveness, 1979-80 (MSS.200/C/3/COM/19/66). The final deposit was made in Sep 2014. This contained earlier minutes and Executive correspondence.

5306 boxes (1,551 [MSS.200/C], 215 [/Aug 1996], 150 [/Dec 1996], 73 [/Jan 1998], 89 [/Dec 1998], 223 [/Apr 2000], 246 [/Aug 2000], 388 [/2001], 123 [/2002], 398 [/2003], 180 [/2004], 175 [/2005], 194 [/2006], 133 [/2007], 168 [/2008], 197 [/2009], 175 [/2010], 80 [/2011], 95 [/2012], 453 [/2014] )

The CBI was established in 1965 by the amalgamation of the Federation of British Industries (FBI), the British Employers' Confederation (BEC) and the National Association of British Manufacturers. This created a national representative body of employers equivalent to the Trades Union Congress, incorporating not only manufacturing, transport and construction but also commerce and the nationalised industries. The FBI, the largest predecessor body, formed the basis of the new organisation, although as part of the integration process chief posts were shared out between the CBI's predecessors. Since its formation the CBI has maintained its position as the major non-political employers' body in a changing political scene. CBI organisation closely reflects that of the FBI. The Council forms the ruling body where CBI policy is ultimately decided, although since 1977 policy issues have also been debated at a national conference. The Council elects a President to serve for two years and is assisted in policy making by the various committees. Approved policies are enacted by the directorates which are headed by one or more directors who in turn are responsible to the Director General. Committees and directorates have frequently been created, dissolved or moved within the organisation. Arrangement of the archive has therefore had to be flexible to accommodate the many changes, details of which are given in the list for each individual directorate. In numerous cases the earliest CBI files commenced as FBI or BEC files and so contain pre-1965 material. Reference: Wyn Grant and David Marsh, The Confederation of British Industry. London, 1977

Researchers must sign an agreement to submit their proposed publication to CBI if it is substantially based on the papers of the CBI and its predecessors. Unpublished CBI archives less than ten years old are closed.

Open

See also predecessor collections: MSS.200/B and MSS.200/F. The Centre also holds: a seminar paper and publications from the papers of David Wood of the CBI International Affairs Directorate; papers of John Whitehorn CMG (1924-2003), Federation of British Industry/Confederation of British Industry official.

English