HC Deb 31 October 1995 vol 265 c211W
Mr. David Shaw

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the sale of the National Engineering Laboratory. [39781]

Mr. Ian Taylor

The intention to privatise NEL was announced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Henley (Mr. Heseltine) on 14 April 1994. An invitation to tender was issued early this year, following which three bids were received.

On 7 August 1995, ASL was selected as the preferred bidder, following extensive evaluation against the Department's objectives for the sale and a wide range of quantitative, technical and financial criteria which demonstrated that its bid represented the best value for money option for the Department. The consideration will be a negative £1.95 million, to be adjusted subsequently in the light of the level of net current assets at completion. All the staff in the undertaking at completion will transfer to ASL.

This represents a highly satisfactory outcome for the Government and for NEL. ASL's strengths complement those of NEL and it proposes to build on all of its activities to enable it to compete successfully in world markets, as well as ensuring that the Department's need for flow measurement under the national measurement system continue to be met.