Transport Research Laboratory
TRL is a British transport consultancy and research organisation based at Wokingham Berkshire with approximately 500 staff. TRL is owned by the Transport Research Foundation (TRF), which is overseen by 80 sector members from the transport industry.[1] TRL also own small UK regional offices situated in Manchester, Wales and Scotland. Key areas of work for TRL include the assessment of road and vehicle safety, transport infrastructure, environmental assessment and traffic management.[2]
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[edit] History
Originally established in 1933 by the UK Government as the Road Research Laboratory (RRL) and later the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL).
During the Second World War the Laboratory contributed to the war effort. Among its contributions, under William Glanville, were research that aided the development of plastic armour, the bouncing bomb and the Disney bomb.
It became an agency of the UK Department for Transport in 1992 and changed its name to Transport Research Laboratory (TRL).
It was controversially privatised in 1996.[3]
Since privatisation, TRL has become increasingly commercially focused and consultancy oriented, actively seeking high-margin and low-risk contracts, but some profits are still reinvested in the company for qualifying research work and to support its long-term business aims.[citation needed]
TRL has expanded its customer base to include local government and the private sector, and has also recently refocused its international work towards the Middle East, opening offices in several Gulf States.[4]
Legal & General own and lease out many of the remaining buildings and track facilities of the former government laboratory to a variety of private businesses including TRL who have consolidated their staff on the lower floors of an open-plan office built inside the test track.[citation needed]
Bracknell Forest Borough council refused planning permission to convert the site into a ‘mini-town’ in 2008, although the remaining portions of the test track will become redundant when the TRL lease expires in 2011.[5]
This will continue a long-term decline in facilities in favour of desktop studies and contracted out test work.[citation needed] However, TRL have taken this opportunity to develop new collaborative agreements with specialist test tracks in the UK and have continued to enhance their laboratory test facilities and simulation capabilities.
Recent adjustments in staff levels will have helped enable TRL to meet the new definition of a small-medium enterprise for the purposes of HMRC R&D tax relief.[6]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The Transport Research Foundation (TRF) is classed as a Non profit distributing organisation This confusing term refers to a form of business structure where although profit is still sought, any profit is reinvested in services or business growth rather than being distributed to shareholders
- ^ About TRL http://www.trl.co.uk/about_trl/
- ^ "Commons Select Committee slams TRL privatisation plans". Contract Journal. 1994-03-24. http://www.contractjournal.com/Articles/1994/03/24/30325/commons-select-committee-slams-trl-privatisation-plans.html. Retrieved 2010-05-02. "Plans to privatise the Transport Research Laboratory have been criticised by the Commons Transport Select Committee. The MPs said they could not recommend privatisation of the TRL until there was 'much more convincing evidence that the laboratory's independence and expertise will not thereby be sacrificed.'"
- ^ Middle East http://www.trl.co.uk/consultancy/international/middle_east_.htm
- ^ see paragraph 677 http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/crowthorne.pdf
- ^ "The Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Scheme". http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ct/forms-rates/claims/randd.htm#2.
[edit] External links
- TRL Official Website
- TRL Software Website
- Transport-Links website. Contains many developing country RRL/TRRL/TRL documents, manuals, for free download
- History of TRL
Coordinates: 51°22′54″N 0°46′56″W / 51.3818°N 0.7823°W
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