Serco began in the 1920s as a UK subsidiary of Radio Corporation of America, providing technical support for the country's growing cinema industry. Just over 30 years later, they won work that was to shape our future direction. From a maintenance contract for the UK Ballistic Missile Early Warning System at the Royal Air Force base at Fylingdales, they expanded into the operation of its technical facilities. In the 1980s this model was acknowledged as best practice by the UK Ministry of Defence and rolled out for the management of other defence facilities.