Rayleigh and Wickford MP Mark Francois recently paid a visit to Excalibur Screwbolts, an engineering company based at Lower Road Hockley, who have been awarded the Queen’s Award for Innovation for the design of its unique “Screwbolt Plus”, which is now being used on the major Crossrail transport project.
Mark met with Managing Director Mr Charles Bickford and fellow Director Mr John Stevens and was taken on a tour of the facility, before having discussions with both men about a number of issues affecting the engineering and construction sectors.
In particular, they talked about the operation of patents to defend innovative projects from being copied by competitors and Mr Bickford had some suggestions in this regard, which Mark has offered to take up with Ministers at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Commenting on his visit to the successful local firm Mark Francois said:
“I am very proud that a company in my constituency has been awarded a prestigious Queen’s Award for Innovation and so I wanted to go and visit them myself and learn more about their success. The company have a strong entrepreneurial spirit combined with a tradition for engineering excellence and it is good to see them acknowledged in this way. I look forward to remaining in touch with Excalibur Screwbolts in the future.”