Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Chancellor, Harper Adams University, will open the Dairy Crest Innovation Centre at the Harper Adams University Campus, Newport, Shropshire on Monday, 25^th April 2016. Her Royal Highness will meet the Chairman, Dairy Crest, Mr Stephen Alexander and Chief Executive, Dairy Crest, Mr Mark Allen, who will accompany her throughout the visit. She will also be accompanied by Dr David Llewellyn, Vice Chancellor, Harper Adams University.

During the visit, Her Royal Highness will take a tour of the facility and meet Dairy Crest staff, as well as students from Harper Adams University.

The Princess will have the opportunity to meet students from Harper Adams who are spending their placement year in industry working for Dairy Crest. There will also be an opportunity for Her Royal Highness to hear more about the knowledge sharing partnership between Dairy Crest and Harper Adams University.

Before leaving, Her Royal Highness will unveil a plaque to commemorate her visit.

Mr Mark Allen, Chief Executive of Dairy Crest, said:

“I am delighted we will be welcoming The Princess Royal to open our new Innovation Centre. We are particularly proud that the building, where our Research and Development and Technical teams are based, is built on the campus of Harper Adams University. The University, of which Her Royal Highness is Chancellor, is well known and respected for its leading role in food, farming and science education.

Her Royal Highness will hear about the unique partnership which Dairy Crest has entered into with Harper Adams. This partnership is built on regular interaction between our staff and Harper Adams students, giving us a link into leading research within the agriculture and food sectors. Dairy Crest will further support the University curriculum by providing student placements, staff secondments and guest speakers.”  

Dr David Llewellyn, Vice Chancellor, Harper Adams University, said:

“Our collaboration with Dairy Crest is already proving beneficial to the Company and the University, so it is particularly pleasing that our Chancellor will be able to see some of our joint activities and hear about our plans for the future.  We look forward to welcoming Her Royal Highness back to Shropshire in April.”