A management buyout has been staged at the world-famous Turing Institute, headquartered in Glasgow. The non-profit-making organisation was established by Donald Michie in 1983, and the Institute is named after Alan Turing who cracked the German Enigma code during World War II, and devised the first mathematical model of general purpose computers. The UKP500,000 buyout is backed by government-funded Scottish Enterprise and nine managers who have the majority shareholding. The Institute develops technology in a number of ways, starting with basic research. Alternatively, the scientists tackle problems brought to their notice by industry, and develop software that is then licensed to other developers. As to the reasons behind the buyout, Turing says that the costs of marketing, selling and supporting its technologies is high, and the funds from the buyout will provide necessary finance as well as a basis for expansion.
