His Royal Highness, The Duke of Kent, paid a visit to CCTV specialist AD Group this morning, Friday 8 February, to officially open the company's Daresbury Park, Warrington, Headquarters building. The Duke of Kent was accompanied by The Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire, Mr William Bromley Davenport, throughout the event.
A number of civic dignitaries were also in attendance including: The Member of Parliament for Weaver Vale, Mr Mike Hall; The Mayor of Halton, Councillor Mr Mike Hodgkinson and The Mayoress, Mrs Kathy Hodgkinson.
After being presented to the greeting party of civic dignitaries upon arrival, His Royal Highness was escorted by AD Group Chairman, Mr Nigel Petrie, to a private briefing by the AD Group Board. This provided an opportunity for the AD Group Board to apprise The Duke of Kent of recent business developments for the company in the CCTV field.
The business briefing was followed by a number of practical demonstrations of AD Group's CCTV technology by CEO and founder Mr Mike Newton. Areas covered ranged from the latest High Definition CCTV, intelligent video smoke detection and CCTV systems for aircraft to mobile digital CCTV equipment. As part of the demonstrations The Duke of Kent was shown dramatic in-car CCTV footage recorded by AD Group equipment fitted to the MG Lola EX264 racecar which came top of its class in the Le Mans Series of endurance races in 2007, as well as winning twice at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2005 and 2006.
The final and most important part of The Duke of Kent's itinerary saw His Royal Highness being asked by AD Group Chairman, Mr Nigel Petrie, to unveil a plaque i
n the presence of the AD Group Board, company employees and civic dignitaries, to commemorate the official opening of the Group's Headquarters.
Said Mr Nigel Petrie, AD Group's Chairman: "We are delighted that His Royal Highness, The Duke of Kent, and our civic guests were able to join us today to see for themselves the pioneering work that we are engaged in as a leading British CCTV system manufacturer and, crucially, to take part in the ceremony to officially open our new headquarters which provides the resources we need for future business expansion.
"It was also pleasing be able to personally welcome The Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire who first visited us when we received the Queen's Award for Enterprise for our mobile TransVu CCTV system."
AD Group was founded in 1997 by current CEO Mr Mike Newton, one of Britain's leading entrepreneurs. He also established Dedicated Micros in 1982 which is now a major subsidiary of AD Group. The business has over 650 employees worldwide, with 150 based at the Daresbury site.
