The Duke was treated to a guided tour of the entire W M Donald site, beginning with the purpose-built workshops, before moving on to the new two-storey office block, which covers 10,000 sq ft, created for their team of 30 office-based staff. During the tour, The Duke met with Willie and Elaine Donald as well as senior managers and employees from the various sectors within the company. He was also shown their extensive range of equipment and vehicles being used to bring innovative new techniques to the North-east construction industry. Prince Charles got into the cab of WM Donald’s new EC220E and was shown the controls by Operator Wullie Grant, who was impressed with the skills on show. Wullie comments; “He's obviously done it before because he knew exactly what to do with the controls and he was very gentle. We were talking about the machine and how important it is for the industry. He was saying he hopes this automatic technology doesn't completely do away with people like me, and I had to agree.”


Before departing, employees gathered at the main entrance of the new building as the Duke unveiled a commemorative plaque and planted a Rowan tree to mark the occasion. Willie said “We felt incredibly privileged to welcome The Duke of Rothesay to our new office, and to talk to him about the work we do in the North-east. He was especially interested to hear about some of the projects that we have been working on recently, including AWPR and P&J Live and to meet the teams behind these projects. “We usually prefer to keep our heads down and concentrate on our work, but we are also very passionate about our team and ensuring that they have the best working environment and equipment. For that reason, we decided to celebrate the opening of our new home and we were delighted when The Duke of Rothesay accepted our invitation to officially open the new office for us.” ■ PHOTO GALLERY OVERLEAF


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