The college was offered the use of Greenlands by the 3rd Viscount Hambledon in 1946, and was bought outright from the family in 1952. In its early years, the college was influenced by the management consultant and writer Lyndall Urwick, the academic Hector Hetherington, the civil servant Sir Donald Banks and the businessman Sir Geoffrey Heyworth (later Lord Heyworth);[1] its curriculum was designed by its first principal, Noel Hall. From the beginning, its intention was to bring together executives from Her Majesty's Civil Service, private business and nationalised industries to help develop their skills for promotion to senior management.[citation needed]