1954 by Dr. Tadion to serve the market for sample handling devices. In 1955 he joined forces with Terry Horsley, Harry Merralls, and Stan Ranson, and the company continued growing quickly. In 1965 Bernard Hawker also joined them in their enterprises.

In 1968 Research & Industrial Instruments was acquired by Beckman Instruments, but in 1970, Beckman relocated to Scotland. In January 1971 Bernard Hawker and Stan Ranson started their own company, ‘Spectroscopic Accessories’, manufacturing graphite disks. In March 1971 Terry Horsley and Harry Merralls were invited to join this new company, to strengthen the optics manufacturing element of the business, and Analytical Accessories Ltd was formed. The range of products grew and they soon provided infrared accessories, optical components and mounts, HPLC valves, and far infrared instruments.

The name ‘SPECAC’ originated from a shipping agent deciding that “Spectroscopic Accessories Company” was too long.

By December 1984, Specac had built up a reliable worldwide network, and became a member of the Defence and Instrumentation Division of Cambridge Electronics Industries (which later changed its name to Graseby plc). 1990 saw the development of a strategic plan to develop the company into a leading edge FTIR sample handling accessory manufacturer, and in 1994 the company relocated into a purpose built building.

In 1997 Specac became part of Smiths Group, one of the UK's largest companies.