BUSINESS Minister Vince Cable has visited a top East Devon engineering firm on his whistle stop visit to the Westcountry.
Supacat, based at Dunkeswell Airfield near Honiton, welcomed the MP this afternoon, Monday, April 8.
The firm is best known for being the Ministry of Defence's main contractor for armoured vehicles including the Jackal, which have played a prominent role in Afghanistan.
The firm prides itself on its engineering innovation and has recently branched out into the oil and gas and renewable energy sector as well.
Engineers have recently designed the launch and recovery system for the RNLI's new fleet of Shannon class boats.
During his visit, Mr Cable was given a tour and met engineers.
He said: "The skills of British engineers are sought the world over, especially when equipment has to work in challenging conditions, no more so than here at Supacat.
"The defence industry is facing challenges at the moment, but I'm pleased to see that companies like Supacat are diversifying their business and continuing to export and sustain jobs here in the South West."
Chris Compton, director and general manager at Supacat, added: "We are delighted that the Secretary of State for Business has taken the time to visit us today and given us the opportunity to brief him on our products and services.
"He seemed particularly interested in how was are dealing with the decline of the defence sector and how we are transferring our engineering skills to challenging new sectors such as marine, renewable energy and oil and gas."
