Since the mid-1980s, however, Peters and Brownes has seen R&D more in terms of a benefit rather than a cost to the business and the linkage between marketing and R&D was also developed to provide support in both product innovation and the development of new products for local and overseas markets. The technology team at the Peters and Brownes Group was set up to be responsible for three thing : R&D per se, quality, and the laboratories. This team links with four main areas of the operations
:new business, sales, domestic markets, and operations.