We were delighted to welcome the Minister for Defence Procurement James Cartlidge and the UK Ministry of Defence to our Stockport manufacturing facility to see where every Boxer for the British Army starts life. All were impressed by the progress made to date and witnessed the first UK-built Boxer Drive Module come off the production line.

During the visit, the visitors were able to spend time with the highly skilled team of welders, fitters and mechanics who are working on the new armoured vehicles and hear about the extensive technology transfer programme between KNDS Germany and KNDS UK. With over 60% content by value, the project is reshoring UK industrial capacity in the defence sector and fulfilling the aspirations of the UK’s Land Industrial Strategy. In addition to manufacturing all the hulls for the British Army’s new armoured vehicle, KNDS UK is also responsible for the assembly, integration and testing of the vehicles.

As part of the tour, the guests also visited the Bridging facility where the Medium Girder and Dry Support Bridges are made. They met with the team and learned about the number of ongoing projects for both the British Army and for overseas military customers that the team is currently working on, including Project Tyro which will equip the British Army with the latest generation of rapidly deployable military bridging.

With a growing workforce of over 300 and a strong order book to boot, KNDS UK is a significant employer in the North West, where it has been operating out of the same site in Heaton Chapel since 1915. And as the business continues to expand, there are a number of active roles available from Boxer to Bridges which are updated on a weekly basis on the Careers page of the website.