| Industry | Transport |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merged with Ocean Group |
| Successor | Exel plc |
| Founded | 1948 |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Headquarters | London, UK |
| Key people | Sir Christopher Bland, (Chairman) Gerry Murphy, (CEO) |
The National Freight Corporation was a major British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and at one time, as NFC plc, it was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The Company was established in 1948 as British Road Services (BRS). It was the British road transport company formed by the nationalisation of Britain's road haulage industry, under the British Transport Commission, as a result of the Transport Act 1947.[1]
By the 1960s was made up of four main operating areas: British Road Services Ltd., BRS Parcels Ltd., Pickfords and Containerway & Roadferry Ltd.
In 1969 it was renamed the National Freight Corporation.[2] Under the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher in 1982 it was sold to its employees in one of the first privatisations of state-owned industry under the name the National Freight Consortium.[3] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1989.[3] It subsequently became NFC plc.
BRS Parcels was rebranded as Roadline and left the Company by way of a management buy-out under the name LYNX Express in 1997.[1]
The Company disposed of Pickfords in 1999 to Allied Van Lines.[4]
In 2000 it merged with Ocean Group plc to form Exel plc.[4]