Royal Visit by HRH, The Duke of Kent

His Royal Highness was welcomed by John Reece, Chairman of Pearson Engineering and was first given a tour of the Armstrong Works which was acquired by Pearson Engineering’s parent company, Reece Group in 2012. The 33,000m² manufacturing facility is undergoing a £10m redevelopment program which will transform the site into a world class design and manufacturing capability.

Managing Director, Craig Priday and Technical Director, Randall Flack explained to His Royal Highness how Pearson Engineering’s products are used to protect troops in theatre and to provide ‘Assured Mobility’ to Combat vehicles. The company’s interchangeable vehicle attachments take a modular approach to defeating devices and obstacles and can be used to configure an existing vehicle within a fleet to the task at hand be it route proving or obstacle clearance.

Speaking about the visit, John Reece said “It has been a privilege to meet the Duke of Kent and to demonstrate what a vibrant and pioneering engineering and manufacturing environment we are continuing to develop at the Armstrong Works. The north-east’s capabilities in these sectors are often overlooked and we have shown clearly that this region can hold its own nationally and globally in manufacture and engineering innovation.

The Duke showed remarkable awareness of the issues faced by troops in war zones and was very interested in the latest technologies we are developing within Pearson Engineering to ensure that we remain at the forefront of development in the defence sector by anticipating and responding to the future needs of the military.”

The visit concluded with a demonstration of products designed by Pearson Engineering including the Bridge Launch Mechanism (H), the company’s latest bridging solution for heavy tracked vehicles and the Super Light Weight Roller, 69 of which were recently delivered to the British Army for use in Afghanistan. Pearson Engineering’s new Counter-IED route opening and clearing vehicle, PEROCC, was also on display.