Royal visit for Costain in Manchester

His Royal Highness The Duke of York, acting in his capacity as the UK's Special Representative for International Trade & Investment, visited the Manchester headquarters of Costain, one of the nation's leading construction/engineering companies. The Duke of York was accompanied by the Lord-Lieutenant for Greater Manchester, The High Sheriff of Greater Manchester and the Lord Mayor of Manchester.

HRH was introduced to Mr Charles Sweeney, Managing Director of Costain's Oil & Gas sector,and to Mr Philip Emsley, Sales and Marketing Director, Mr Chris Winstanley, Finance Director, Mr Graham Cribb, Commercial Director and Mr Frank Millar, Operations Director. During his visit, The Duke of York was given a presentation on how Costain's modularised engineering designs and construction techniques have been used to improve safety and quality and to reduce project costs and schedules in the oil & gas and nuclear industries.

His Royal Highness and the accompanying party reviewed a number of current projects during a tour of the offices and were introduced to several members of staff. Costain's Personnel Manager, Ken Ward, spoke to His Royal Highness about the difficulties of recruitment in engineering. A number of graduate engineers discussed their experiences on Costain's graduate training scheme, and shared their ideas on how more young people could be encouraged to follow a career in engineering. The visit was concluded with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque.