When researching car security systems, you may have seen the phrase ‘Thatcham approved’ make an appearance, but what does a town in Berkshire have to do with vehicle safety and security? Towards the end of the 1960s, a group of British car insurers joined forces and founded the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre in the small Berkshire town. However, MIRRC wasn’t a particularly catchy acronym, so it eventually became known simply as ‘Thatcham’. Flash forward to the late 80’s, and the insurance industry was growing tired of replacing stolen Audi Quattros and Sierra Cosworths, so worked with the government to establish standardised methods of protecting cars from theft. Eventually, Thatcham (the organisation not the town) was approached and tasked with outlining a set of guidelines for car manufacturers, which had the sole purpose of improving the effectiveness and reliability of car security devices. From this, the various different category Thatcham alarms were born.