The Duke of York is to visit Swindon Pressings Ltd, BMW Group's pressings plant, next Friday, May 16.

Visiting Swindon in his role as special representative for Interna-tional Investment and Trade for British Trade International, the Duke will meet employees at the Stratton St Margaret plant.

It produces pressed metal parts for the Mini manufactured at BMW Group's plant in Oxford as well as parts for MG Rover, Land Rover and Nissan.

While at the plant, the Duke will also meet apprentices and trades union representatives.

Swindon pressings Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW group.

With an annual turnover of £200 million, the company employs 2,200 people in Swindon and is thought to contribute £70m annually to the local Swindon economy.