UK TECH CENTRE

Royal Enfield are back in the UK – we take you inside their staggering new R&D facility

Enfield’s state-of-the-art tech centre in Leicestershire opened in May last year – 50 years after the original Redditch factory closed. Bossed by ex-triumph man Simon Warburton, it’s responsible for the design and development of future models. The new 650 twins (previous pages) are the first bikes through its doors. It’s an amazing place. Entering through a door with a cast “Made Like A Gun” handle, the stairs lead you past a tower of bikes and into a bright first-floor office that’s home to engine and chassis teams, accessory designers, computerassisted analysis and rapid prototyping. Ground floor houses a spotless industrial design studio, and workshops for metalwork, electrics and chassis, with features including a shock dyno, bike lifts that drop flush to the floor and underfloor extraction. Tools are from King Dick, chosen as they’re the only British-owned tool firm. Another building has dyno and emission facilities, and there’s a 10,000-litre fuel tank. The centre already employs well over 100 people, who start work, finish and take breaks as they see fit. Locker rooms include showers and a drying area for wet riding gear. And the homely canteen area has a Union Jack teapot.