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After being officially welcomed to Barnsley by local dignitaries, Managing Directors of Sash UK Ltd, Stephen Morrell and David Ruzicka, gave the Prince a one hour tour of the company. This started with an introduction to the joint founders, Ron Bean and Terry Morrell and their spouses Jeanette and Barbara, the Board of Directors, Commercial Director, Brian Oxley and his wife, Janet, and Conservatory Director, Colin Poole and wife Jackie. Also in that first group was representation from some of Sash’s key suppliers: Peter Abbott, Managing Director of Veka and his wife, Sue, Mark Rogers, Sales and Marketing Director for Veka and his wife Liz and Maco’s Managing Director Rob Lawrence and his wife Sue.

Official presentations concluded, Stephen and David then took the Duke of York into the highly automated purpose built factory.

David Ruzicka commented on the Duke of York’s casual approach to the visit, ‘He talked freely to operatives on the factory floor, making everyone he met feel at ease. There was a genuine interest in what people had to say and he asked some very pertinent questions about the whole window manufacturing process.

‘Although a route had been planned for the Duke of York, to get the best of the allocated time, if a specific manufacturing process or operation caught his eye, he simply changed the route as he wanted. We had no problem with this as he met more of our factory operatives, but it did put his own schedule back,’ said David. ‘It also kept his allocated protection team on their toes as they monitored his progress,’ he added.

As the Duke of York approached the conservatory production area, he was introduced to the Conservatory Production Management team, Sam Watson and Ernie Gibbs, before being presented to overseas visitors and export customers, Walter Stucky President of Pittsburgh based, Veka inc., his wife, Donna, Ian Shearer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Veka inc., his daughter Nicolette and partner Bridget Stengle. They were over from the USA to visit their European colleagues and were invited to Sash UK Ltd specifically for the Royal visit.

Nick Hibberd, PR & Marketing Manager for Sash UK Ltd and organiser of the Royal event, talked about the visit and what it meant to the company and the Grimethorpe community. ‘It goes without saying that it is a real honour for the company to be chosen for a Royal visit and to be seen as a leading UK manufacturer and a flagship for the regeneration of Grimethorpe.’