Initially known as The Research Institute in Dairying, the Board of Agriculture established this centre for agricultural science and engineering in 1912. The Institute formed part of University College, Reading (later the University of Reading). In 1920 the Institute acquired Shinfield Manor, which became an experimental farm. The following year the Institute changed its name to the National Institute for Research in Dairying, often known by its acronmyn NIRD. NIRD carried out basic and applied research into milk production and dairy products, including work on nutrition, animal husbandry, chemisty, physiology, biochemisty and bacteriology. It also aimed to improve methods in the dairying industry, partly by experimenting with equipment such as heat pumps. At its height, the Institute had a staff of around four hundred and fifty people. Whilst NIRD formed part of the University of Reading, it was financed largely by the Agricultural and Food Research Council. NIRD was replaced by the Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, and the Food Research Institute, Reading, in 1985.

Adam Cromarty worked as an electrical engineer at the ERA Foundation Ltd (also known as the British Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association). Cromarty specialised in rural electrification, and was based at Shinfield, Reading. Following his work at the ERA, he worked for the University of Reading. His research led to the invention of a dairy heat pump, or Dairy Exchanger Unit, used to turn the waste heat from cooling down milk into hot water for use in dairies. His scientific papers were published under the name A.S. Cromarty.

ERA Foundation Ltd is the current name of the research association founded as the British Electrical and Allied Industries Research Association in 1920. By 1925, the association was commonly referred to as the Electrical Research Association (ERA). It was funded jointly by the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research, industry and member companies. Prior to ERA, there had been no real facility for co-operative electrical research in the UK, although some research was carried out by a few manufacturers, suppliers and larger users of electricity. ERA filled the recognised gap in the organisation of the industry, by supplying research and technology innovation. ERA opened an auxiliary laboratory in Perivale in 1936. During the 1939-1945 war, direct assistance to the war effort was given by ERA, having been recognised by the Ministry of Labour in 1941 as an 'essential undertaking'. Activities during the war included working on the development of radar and mine detection equipment. Major new laboratories and offices were opened in Leatherhead, Surrey in 1957 which were the headquarters of the organisation until around 2014, when the organisation moved to Worthing, Surrey. Until the late 1960s, ERA had derived much of its income from member company subscriptions and UK government grants. After 1969 ERA began reorganising its mode of operation to reflect the rapidly changing technology base within the industries it served. This enabled the company to derive income from single client and multi-client projects. ERA became the first 'privatised' research association and was known as The Electrical Research Association Ltd. In September 1979 ERA formally changed its name from The Electrical Research Association Ltd to ERA Technology Ltd. During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s ERA continued to grow and develop into new research areas, including RF technology and electronic systems. It also expanded into providing a wide range of engineering consultancy services for mechanical as well as electronic and electrical systems. In doing so it established itself as one of Britain's leading independent consulting organisations at the leading edge of technology development. In January 2001, the entire organisation was transferred to a new trading company, limited by shares. The original company, still limited by guarantee, was renamed The ERA Foundation Ltd. The trading operation, retaining the name ERA Technology, was run as a wholly commercial enterprise, responsible to its shareholders. In September 2003 the company announced it would sell the entire share capital of ERA Technology to Cobham PLC. The proceeds of this sale and sale of a linked property company formed the basis for work of the ERA Foundation in the field of electrotechnology. Companies House: Registration No.00170454.