Solly Zuckerman was appointed by Cadbury Schweppes Ltd in 1971 to advise on its R & D programme; he was also a non-executive Director. He chaired the Lord Zuckerman Research and Development Committee, and had direct access to the most senior levels of the company's management. As well as dealing systematically with the R & D programme, Zuckerman handled a variety of ad hoc questions, and there is evidence that his vast and world wide personal network was invaluable in handling these. One example is to be found in the correspondence with Dr Philip Handler, President of the US National Academy of Sciences, on the subject of cyclamates.
This series is to some extent complementary to Series SZ/BIBRA, and the files of correspondence with Sir Adrian Cadbury and Dominic Cadbury in Series SZ/GEN.
File SZ/CS/2 Correspondence, 1970-1991 contains 13 sub-files. Correspondents are: Sir Adrian Cadbury; Dominic Cadbury; Basil Collins; W. Martin Cox; Dr Philip Handler; Robert E. Ix; E.L. (Ted) Jeans; Dr Harry Lavery; N.W. (Bill) Pirie; Dr Brian D. Powell; Professor A.S. Truswell; Robert N. Wadsworth; Viscount Watkinson; and various other Cadbury Schweppes personnel.
File SZ/CS/3 Jeyes Group Limited, 1973-76 contains two sub-files, being correspondence with T. Ralph Auchincloss, Chairman of the Jeyes Group, and Dr Douglas N. Munro, its Director of Research and Development.
File SZ/CS/4 Visit to South Africa, 1975, 1974-76 contains three sub-files, being: itineraries etc., correspondence with Mr Les Swabey; and miscellaneous correspondence and papers. In September 1975 Lord and Lady Zuckerman made a month-long visit to South Africa, sponsored by Cadbury Schweppes. Their host was Les Swabey, Deputy Chairman of Cadbury Schweppes (South Africa) Limited. As well as visiting the company's establishments, Zuckerman carried out a programme of visits to research and educational establishments, and had meetings with representatives of the government, and the academic and business communities. He also took the opportunity to spend time with members of his family and old friends, and to visit his old school, the South African College School (SACS). While in South Africa Zuckerman delivered two major lectures, at the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Grahamstown. The former caused a furore, since it contained a forthright attack on the scientific pretensions of the Afrikaans poet Eugene Marais, upon which the press seized. The Zuckermans also managed to squeeze into their schedule a two-day holiday at Plettenburg Bay.
File SZ/CS/5 Lord Zuckerman Research Centre, Reading University, 1979-1987, 1990 contains three sub-files. SZ/CS/5/1 relates to the opening of the Lord Zuckerman Research Centre, 14 Decemer 1981, SZ/CS/5/2 contains miscellaneous correspondence with Reading University, and SZ/CS/5/3 contains correspondence with Professor John R. Norris. The Lord Zuckerman Research Centre is a purpose-designed building on Reading University's Whiteknights campus, the construction of which was funded by Cadbury Schweppes to house a company research group - led by John Norris - that was already operating from the University's Department of Chemistry. Professor Norris became the first Director of the new Centre, which was opened by Lord Zuckerman on 14 December 1981. A two-day scientific conference, convened to mark the occasion, opened on the same day. Most of the contents relate to arrangements for the opening of the new Centre and are concentrated in Sub-file SZ/CS/5/3. However there is also evidence of Zuckerman's continuing interest in the Centre, and in food research at the University. An example is the correspondence with Norris and others over the obstructive attitude of the British Technology Group to collaborative work between the Centre, perceived as a commercial enterprise, and the Food Research Institute, also based on the University's campus.