The Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE) was born in 1986 from the collaboration of James Prior, John Cassels and Pauline Perry.
Perry (at that time the Chief Inspector of Schools at the Department for Education) had heard about an American organisation that had managed to bring businesses and universities closer together.
Cassels (as Director General of the National Economic Development Office) was a believer in the power of partnership, while Prior was a recent Cabinet member and the new chairman of the GEC industrial conglomerate.
He agreed to invite the heads of a range of businesses, universities and polytechnics to a couple of initial discussions to see if there was a common cause that might be addressed through a partnership approach.
[9] NCUB was launched with an event at the BT Tower, with David Docherty and Richard Greenhalgh becoming the organisation's first CEO and Chairman respectively.