Royal visitor will tour big town factory

The boss of Telford's big Denso factory says he is delighted that the Earl of Wessex will be visiting the plant.

And he hopes Prince Edward will be impressed by the way his company is trying to cope with the recession. Henry Suzuki, plant managing director of Denso Manufacturing UK Ltd, was commenting on the announcement that the prince will be visiting Shropshire on March 25.

Prince Edward will perform the official opening ceremony for the new £28 million Theatre Severn at Frankwell in Shrewsbury. He will also officially unveil Shrewsbury's new Monkmoor Campus for Severndale Special School and Wilfred Owen Primary School.

His day will end with a visit to Denso's factory at Hortonwood, Telford, where some 1,000 people are employed making air-conditioning units for UK and European car markets.Like all companies in the motor industry, Denso has been hit by the international slump. It recently announced it was axing its night shift and offering each of its staff a one-off payment of £5,000 to leave.

On his visit, the Earl of Wessex will be welcomed by Mr Suzuki and will be shown the cutting edge production methods.

Mr Suzuki said: "I look forward to welcoming His Royal Highness and showing him the efforts we are taking to tackle the difficult situation the automotive industry faces at the moment. The visit will be a welcome morale boost for all our associates."

The Denso plant is supporting this year's Pride of Shropshire Environmental Project Award.