SOG Limited was formed in 2000 from ICI's Site Operations Group - a division of the ICI chemical group which managed the company's headquarters site at The Heath in Runcorn and other ICI scientific sites across northern England.

When ICI announced its intention to close The Heath, managers working within the SOG division formed a limited company and linked up with a Liverpool-based businessman John Lewis - now SOG's Managing Director - to develop a business plan to purchase the 50 acre site from ICI.

In 2000, SOG Limited became the owner and manager of The Heath and over the past 10 years has transformed The Heath from a single-occupancy site with an uncertain future into a thriving business and scientific centre for some of the world's most innovative businesses. Remarkably the entire process has been achieved without any public-sector grant funding.

As well as creating jobs, SOG has successfully retained and grown an important skills base within the North West region, enabling many highly specialised skills - such as scientific glassblowing and experimental work in blast-proof laboratories - to be available to the wider business community. As a result of its phenomenally successful business regeneration model, SOG has launched its Fusion concept, whereby organisations facing the prospect of redundant commercial sites or surplus resources or facilities can benefit from SOG's expertise and experience to look at regeneration opportunities, thereby retaining core skills and generating employment opportunities.