Aldershot MP visits Project Allenby/Connaught

The new MP for Aldershot, Leo Docherty, visited Project Allenby/Connaught (PAC) on Friday 27 October.

Pictured left to right: Major Martin Hickie, Army Basing & Infrastructure; Allan Thomson, CE ADL; Leo Docherty, MP for Aldershot; Aidan Murphy, Operations Director East, ADSL; Lt Col MacGregor, Aldershot Garrison Commander; Rhod MacGregor, Project Director, and Paul Camfield, Aldershot Project Lead, ADCW. 

This visit was an excellent opportunity to showcase the significant infrastructure improvements already completed under PAC at Aldershot.  It also demonstrated the excellent standard of services being delivered by Aspire day-to-day across the Garrison, from catering and major works projects to the Army Basing Programme (ABP).

The visit was led by Allan Thomson, Chief Executive of Aspire Defence Limited, with Aidan Murphy, Operations Director East (Aspire Defence Services Limited – ADSL) and Lt Col Nigel MacGregor, Aldershot Garrison Commander.

It was the MP’s first visit to the Project and the tour began with lunch in the Diner at St Omer Barracks, so that Mr Docherty could sample the food served up to soldiers each day by ADSL’s catering contractor Sodexo.  This was followed by a briefing on PAC and ABP, then a windscreen tour of significant sites around Aldershot, including the sports pitches and re-roofing of the Catholic Cathedral.

Next was a tour inside the newly completed Single Living Accommodation at Mons Barracks, where the group was joined by Rhod McGregor, Project Director for Aspire Defence Capital Works (ADCW) and Paul Camfield, Aldershot Project Lead (ADCW), with Major Martin Hickie (Army Basing & Infrastructure).

 

To close the visit, the MP was hosted at the Officers’ Mess of his old Regiment, the Scots Guards (SG), by the Commanding Officer of 1 SG, Col Rupert Kitching.

Allan said:

“Building positive relationships with representatives of national and local government within our Project footprint is an important aim for Aspire.  We were delighted to welcome Mr Docherty to Aldershot for what we hope was a valuable insight to our delivery under PAC.”