National Time Recorder Company Ltd

One of the two largest UK manufacturers of time recorders in the UK was incorporated in 1917 (company number 146424), though possibly founded around 10 years earlier in 1907. The head office and factory was originally based in Blackfriars London, and moved to the Lagoon Works in St Mary Cray (Orpington) Kent in 1951, on the site of the Blue Lagoon swimming pool which had been damaged during the war. Other branches were established in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Sheffield.

The company designed and sold several model types from that time, some of which evolved over the decades giving numerous model variants according to their age. From 1920 many NTR models were customised for sale by Blick Time Recorders Ltd, with which company NTR had a trading partnership, and who eventually took over the company in 1972. The company also had a trading partnership with The British Time Recorder Company Ltd which sold many of their machines (sometimes modified) under the BeTaR brandname.

The model range included dial, key, autograph and card recorders; please refer to the Models section for more details.

Many NTR clocks can be found with the local sales and service company's name on the dial rather than the NTR name; clocks would often have the paper dial cover or metal dial replaced when sold or serviced (e.g. Time Recorders (Leeds) Ltd).