Natural Resource Management Ltd (NRM), an independent analytical business, was set up in 1990 following the decision by ICI Ltd to dispose of their ‘agricultural testing facilities’ at the Jealotts Hill complex in Berkshire.

The facilities and capability at Winkfield, Berkshire have expanded considerably, and with the development of a new laboratory site at Cawood, North Yorkshire in 2003, NRM employed over 60 staff, with a proven record of providing fast, high quality analytical services (physical, chemical, spectroscopic and microbiological) to the majority of organisations operating in the land-based sectors throughout the UK, with work also coming from Eire and other countries throughout Europe.

In October 2003 the business was acquired by Sensortec Ltd, an innovative, well funded company developing patented technology involving in-vitro diagnostics and biosensor applications, (based upon an integrated potentiometric immunosensor platform).  This leading-edge technology has the capacity to provide a testing platform both in the laboratory, and in the field whereby fresh samples could be tested within 10 minutes of sampling, and with levels of detection down to parts per billion.

In April 2006, under a new holding company of ‘Cawood Scientific plc’, NRM was joined by Sciantec Analytical Services Ltd (Sciantec).  This company was established in 1991 in Dalton, North Yorkshire and developed into a successful independent contract laboratory business, offering a specialised analytical testing service to the animal nutrition and health sectors.  Sciantec has now re-located to the purpose built facilities at Cawood, where it has merged with the NRM business that was operating at this facility.