THE Remembering ISTEL project continues to attract more support from ex-employees and now the archives have a permanent home.
The Standard reported in November 2023 about the creation of an archive for the IT company ISTEL.
It was started by Dave Handley and Derek Coombes who, during a conversation at Redditch Local History Museum, discovered they both worked at the business.
Checking what information the museum had on ISTEL, they found it was limited to two publicity brochures and a mug.
Derek and Dave said they were shocked how little information there was on the company, so decided to rectify that by starting their own archive.
Since then, the collection of information has gone from strength to strength and they continue to connect with ex-employees on their Facebook group.
Because of the success of the group, a prestigious blue plaque was unveiled in December 2024, with ex-employees invited to attend.
And now Derek and Dave have found the archive a permanent home at the British Motor Museum (BMM) in Gaydon, Stratford.
A number of locations for the archives were investigated but one stood out above the rest, the Gaydon based British Motor Museum (BMM).
Derek and Dave said they chose the BMM because of the similarities between the two companies.
They said: “BMM also grew out of British Leyland (BL) and indeed the BL Heritage collection of cars once shared facilities at Studley Castle where ISTEL’s training facilities were housed.”
