 The agency was created as National Weights and Measures Laboratory (NWML) in 1987 from a reorganisation of the Standards Department when it moved from its previous location in central London to a new, purpose-built facility in Teddington which was officially opened by the Duke of Kent on the 9th of April 1987.Until June 28, 2007 it was an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry.It then became part of the newly formed Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.