History
1919
W.R Prior Co LTD was founded in London by Walter Robert Prior and Andrew Physicks as a manufacturer of microscopes.
1941
During WW2 the Blitz destroyed the factory building. The company subsequently relocated to a new facility in Bishop’s Stortford.
1947
Marked the passing of Walter Robert Prior.
1953
W.R Prior Co LTD began manufacturing a variety of micromanipulators for several well-known and established companies, including the likes of Marconi.
1956
W.R Prior Co LTD relocated to a new state-of the art factory on London Road, Bishop’s Stortford.
1957
Both the science master microscope and the Prior monocular dissecting microscope were widely supplied for educational use.
1962
Prior supplied the imperial Cancer Research Fund in London with the Mark 2 version of their modular inverted microscope.
1970
Introduction of the modular Priorlux laboratory microscope.
1975
Leading the market with cost effective solutions, Prior introduced their new Student 400 series microscope at a fraction of the average microscope cost, opening the doors for more young aspiring scientists.
1978
Douglas Fielding, who has been an investor in the McArthur microscope, purchased W.R. Prior Co LTD. The Company was then changed to Prior Scientific Instruments LTD.
1980
Mr. Fielding purchased James Swift & Sons, a leading polarizing microscope manufacturer, and merged the two companies.
1981
Prior launched a new modular series of Stereomicroscopes – the S2000 series, further showing their commitment to customizable OEM solutions.
1984
The first handheld fiber optic inspection microscope was manufactured in collaboration with British Telecom (BT).
1987
Prior manufactured their first motorized XY microscope stage. Made for FOSS electric, revolutionizing the methods of screening milk for bacteria samples.
1988
Disaster struck and a fire destroyed the Bishop’s Stortford factory building. Prior relocated to its present home in Fulbourn, located just outside of Cambridge, UK.
1991
Prior expanded its presence in the USA with a new facility in Rockland, Massachusetts.
2008
Prior opened an office in Jena, Germany and launched their PL200 Robotic Slide Loader.
2010
Prior Scientific Instruments opened an office in Tokyo, Japan.
2014
Prior introduced its first linear motor stage, the HLD117.
2018
Prior Scientific Instruments LTD purchased Queensgate Instruments and opened an office in Suzhou, China.
2019
Prior Scientific Instruments LTD celebrated its 100th year in business.
2019
The PureFocus850 laser autofocus system was launched.
2020
The OpenStand modular imaging system was launched.
2022
SL160 Slide Loader was launched.
2025
Prior Scientific acquired Kinetic Systems Inc, a vibration isolation specialist based in Boston, MA.
Events and Exhibitions
09/09/2026
China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE) 2026
10/09/2026
Chinese Neuroscience Society 2026
23/09/2026
W3+ Fair
13/10/2026
