The corporation was established as part of an initiative by the future Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Heseltine, in May 1987 during the Second Thatcher ministry.

[1] Board members were directly appointed by the minister and overrode local authority planning controls to spend government money on infrastructure.

Circa 988 acres (4.00 km2) of derelict land was reclaimed and 24 miles (39 km) of new road and footpaths put in place.

The new road, which was opened in two phases in 1995, also freed up several square miles of previously inaccessible land which was soon developed for industrial and commercial use.

[8] The Chairman was Sir William Francis[9] and, subsequently, George Carter and the Chief Executive was David Morgan.