GCHQ CELEBRATES 100-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Happy anniversary to GCHQ, the government’s communications headquarters

Founded on November 1, 1919, GCHQ moved to Cheltenham in 1950. It is now Gloucestershire’s single biggest employer, with around 6,000 people working at its Benhall headquarters, locally known as the Donut because it looks remarkably like one from above.

According to Tony Comer, GCHQ’s historian, Cheltenham was chosen because the US Army’s logistics headquarters, sited there during the war, meant that there were suitable buildings and lots of telephone lines. Originally GCHQ was located on two sites, at Oakley Farm and nearby Benhall.

In 1953, the local Gloucestershire Echo newspaper reported that Cheltenham Town Council had built 580 houses at Hester’s Way for those moving to Cheltenham, but these new houses weren’t enticement enough for some government employees to up sticks from London and venture west.

As a result, for much of the Cold War, GCHQ recruited 50 per cent of its staff locally, training school leavers from across north Gloucestershire in something akin to an apprenticeship programme in how to be an intelligence analyst.

“I’ve lost count of the number of family dynasties I’ve come across in the Donut. It makes us take seriously our sense of social responsibility to the community that has sustained us for so long”

One staffer who did relocate to the town in the 1950s appeared happy with the move. The Echo reported: “On the whole the people of Cheltenham have accepted us wonderfully and shopping here is a real pleasure: it may take longer than in London, but the friendliness makes it well worthwhile.”

That approach and geographical focus is not something seen in any other part of the global intelligence community, added Tony, and gives those working at GCHQ a sense of place and belonging.

“I’ve lost count of the number of family dynasties I’ve come across in the Donut. It makes us take seriously our sense of social responsibility to the community that has sustained us for so long. It gave, and gives, us a distinctive cohesion to the workforce which has many advantages.”

GCHQ has been marking its centenary all year, including welcoming HRH Prince Charles and the RAF’s Red Arrows, and staging a new exhibition at the Science Museum in London.

As part of his three weeks with the intelligence and security agencies, Prince William also spent time at GCHQ.

Wasdell acquires specialist pharma and healthcare manufacturer

Swindon-based Wasdell Group, Europe’s largest independent specialist manufacturer to the pharmaceutical and nutritional industries, has acquired Honeywood Limited, based in Northamptonshire.

Honeywood is a specialist manufacturer to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.

The move will expand Wasdell Group’s manufacturing capacity in the UK and follows the recent announcement of the completion of the group’s £36 million European headquarters in Dundalk, Ireland.

Wasdell Group’s chairman Martin Tedham said: “This acquisition adds capacity to our manufacturing capability here in the UK.

“It will enable us to support our growing number of clients in the US, which already work closely with Wasdell to secure a fully outsourced supply chain for their products within Europe.”

Later this year, Wasdell Technical, the dedicated division that designs and manufactures commercial tooling for the group, will leave its current premises at Blagrove in Swindon as the lease on that building comes to an end.

Staff employed at Wasdell Technical will be moving to a site at Groundwell, in the northern part of the town.