FEBRUARY 18, 2002

Williams to expand Grove factory

When Williams Grand Prix Engineering moved to its new factory in Grove, near Wantage, six years ago the team seemed to be a little lost in the vast new facility.

WHEN Williams Grand Prix Engineering moved to its new factory in Grove, near Wantage, six years ago the team seemed to be a little lost in the vast new facility. There were empty offices and plenty of room for expansion on the 28-acre site. But the growth has been such that now the team is building an extension so that there is enough space for all the technical departments. The new part of the building is expected to house an expanded composites facility.

There has been talk for some time that Williams may also be considering the construction of a second windtunnel at the Grove site as the current 50% rolling road facility is now much in demand. The windtunnel actually dates back to the late 1980s when it was the most advanced such facility in the world and in 1995 the 165-ton structure was cut into three pieces and moved from its original location in Didcot to Grove and then reassembled.