Registered as a charity in January 2001, the Business Enterprise Heritage Trust houses a major collection of research materials, including 50,000 specialist books on economics, business and industrial history. It also holds specialist collections on local industries in British towns and villages.
The collection has been augmented by pooling the libraries of many distinguished academics in the relevant fields of study, making it a unique resource for scholars, students and independent researchers.
The library brings together academic books, monographs and reference works covering the history of economic thought, entrepreneurship, international business, industrial and transport history, banking and finance, and the economic and social history of British towns and villages.
A catalogue of the collection is in preparation. In the meantime, the library is happy to receive queries about specific books or subject areas that fall within the scope described above.
The library occupies two adjacent business units on the Grove Business Park, Wantage, near Oxford, UK. It is open to the public by appointment.
To arrange a visit, please email behtoffice@gmail.com. We welcome researchers, students and anyone with a serious interest in the history of business and enterprise.
Please contact us in advance so we can ensure a trustee or volunteer is on site to receive you.
The Trust is governed by a board of academic trustees with expertise spanning economics, business history, international business, and local and economic history.
Chairperson
Mark Casson is Professor of Economics at the University of Reading, UK. He is the author of numerous books on entrepreneurship, international business and economic history. His books include The Entrepreneur (1982), The World’s First Railway System (2009), Global Business (2020) and Entrepreneurship and the Market Economy (2024).
Treasurer
Janet Casson is an independent scholar researching women’s landownership in nineteenth-century England. She previously taught science in schools in Surrey, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. She is an active participant in voluntary organisations and was formerly a churchwarden of St Leonard’s church, Woodcote.
Secretary
Brian Turner was a senior traffic engineer at the Department for Transport until his retirement. He is a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and has a longstanding interest in both road and rail transport. He is a licensed lay reader in the Church of England and organist at his local church.
Peter Buckley is 200th Anniversary Chair in International Business at the Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, and was previously founder of the Centre for International Business at the University of Leeds. He is the author of numerous books and articles on business, management and the global economy, and has donated a substantial library of academic books to the Trust.
John Creedy is Emeritus Professor in the School of Accounting and Commercial Law at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He was formerly Truby Williams Professor of Economics at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has written extensively on the history of economic thought and the economics of fiscal and social policy. A keen book collector, he once owned an art gallery near Richmond, Yorkshire.
Simon Townley is a local and medieval historian with a particular interest in settlement, landscape, and rural economy and society. He is the editor of the Victoria County History of Oxfordshire and has researched the history of many Oxfordshire towns and villages.
Andrew Godley is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Strategy and Management) at the University of Sussex Business School. He was previously founder-director of the Henley Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Reading. He has published extensively on the history of immigrant entrepreneurship and the evolution of retailing.
Lucy Newton is Professor of Business History and Pro-Dean of Education and Student Success at the Henley Business School, University of Reading. She has published extensively on the historical evolution of branch banking in the UK and is currently researching business ethics and corporate social responsibility.
To arrange a visit to the library, to discuss a research enquiry, or to make a donation of books or papers, please get in touch.
behtoffice@gmail.com
Grove Business Park, Wantage, Oxfordshire, UK
The Trust is actively seeking to develop links with scholars and other organisations working on the history of business, enterprise and industry. If you would like to collaborate, please write to us.