The Princess Royal opens Bentley Motors' new R&D centre

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited Bentley Motors' headquarters in Crewe on 24^th October to open a new research and development centre, which is home to more than 400 Bentley engineers. The new building covers 7,200 square metres over four storeys and was constructed in just seven months.

The building marks the first stage of Bentley's headquarter expansion, which continues to develop the site as an industry-leading, modern and efficient manufacturing facility. Before unveiling a plaque to officially open the new building, The Princess Royal visited Bentley's flagship showroom, CW1 House, and then toured the main production facility where the company's four model lines - the Bentayga, the Continental, the Flying Spur and the Mulsanne are handcrafted. 

Her Royal Highness also met both apprentices and colleagues working on bespoke training islands in wood and leather, learning more about Bentley's innovative approach to training young people and continuously improving the skills of colleagues in all areas of the business.

Bentley's manufacturing apprenticeship programme has recently received national recognition by The Princess Royal herself, being named outstanding by the inaugural Princess Royal Training Awards, created to recognise learning and skills development in industry. Her Royal Highness will host the Awards ceremony at St James' Palace in November.