Association of Business Historians
Leading UK professional association dedicated to creating and disseminating knowledge about Business History

About

Association of Business Historians

History

The Association of Business Historians was founded in 1990 to promote the study of business history. The first conference took place on the 27–28 September 1991; since 2000 the conference has been held annually. The ABH PhD prize was introduced in 1997 and in 2000 it was named the Coleman Prize and awarded annually. At the 2012 conference the Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop ran for the first time and is now an annual event prior to the conference. In 2019 the Corely Early Career Researcher Paper Development Workshop was introduced.

 

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

  1. To foster the development of the discipline of Business History as a broadly based, widely defined, multi-disciplinary subject area, viz.: The study of all aspects of the historical development of enterprise, businesses and business activity generally and their inter-relationship with the social, cultural, economic and political environment.

  2. To establish the ABH amongst relevant external funding and teaching bodies (such as those responsible for Quality Assurance and Research Excellent Framework) as the recognised body for representing the collective views of business historians.

  3. To provide forums to encourage the teaching of, and research within, business history and within which business historians can exchange information and knowledge.

  4. To act as a means of facilitating information flows so that overlap and/or conflicts of timing between various persons/groups/bodies organising conferences, etc. in the field of business history can, where possible, be prevented.

STRATEGY

  1. To communicate with relevant external bodies and to press the case for ABH to be sent, as a matter of course, consultation and other material which affects business historians and their discipline. Further, Council to be responsible for ensuring that such requests are responded to on behalf of the membership in an effective and timely manner, and in a way that reflects the views of the membership.

  2. Council to develop a more effective two-way communication channel with ABH members through the use of both printed and electronic media, particularly in regard to issues referred to in 1 above.

  3. To organise an annual conference at which business historians can meet and disseminate their research findings. Further, to arrange, and/or encourage the arrangement of, ad hoc meetings, as and when necessary, to foster research and teaching in Business History.

GOVERNANCE/CONSTITUTION

The Association of Business Historians is a member-driven association governed by a volunteer council responsible for overseeing the running of the ABH and its current strategy. The council is formed by ten members elected by the association: the President, the Treasurer, the Secretary, the Communications Officer, the Archives Officer, the Slaven Workshop Organiser, the Coleman Prize Organiser and the Conference Organiser. The periods in office are limited to three years.

The Association is a charity registered in Scotland. Charity Number SCO 19886.

The Independent Examiner is Mark Billings

 

Current Council Members