MP urges defence companies to increase investment in Shropshire
A Shropshire MP has been urging defence companies to commit more investment into the county.
The Wrekin's Conservative MP, Mark Pritchard, met major defence manufacturers to call for more investment and jobs at sites in his constituency and across Shropshire.
Mr Pritchard met the defence businesses at the biennial Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition.
Held at the ExCeL centre in London, DSEI serves as a forum between governments, national armed forces, industry and academics.
At the exhibition, Mr Pritchard met Colin McClean, managing director of RBSL, which is currently working to upgrade the British Army's Challenger 2 main battle tanks at Hadley Castle in Telford.
The upgraded vehicle, to be called Challenger 3, will be a network-enabled, digital main battle tank with state-of-the-art lethality, upgraded survivability plus world-class surveillance and target acquisition capabilities.
He also met Louise Atkinson, managing director of defence qquipment at Babcock, to discuss plans for future investment in decommissioning services and equipment upgrades at its Donnington site, where more than 500 people are employed.
Mr Pritchard said: "I continue to make the case for more local defence jobs in The Wrekin with both Babcock and RBSL – both of whom confirmed their commitment to Shropshire and its highly skilled defence manufacturing workforce."
