The Army Base Repair Organisation (ABRO) was an executive agency which reported to the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. It provided engineering, repair and re-manufacturing services to the British Armed Forces and also to the police and some local councils. ABRO was a UK Government Trading Fund established by The ABRO Trading Fund Order 2002 from 1 April 2002. ABRO traced its history back to the foundation of the Corps of Armourers in 1858.

ABRO's Head Office was located in Andover with major units at Bovington, Catterick Garrison, Colchester, Donnington, Stirling and Warminster. Smaller sites were located at Bicester, Edinburgh, Sennybridge and York.

On 22 May 2007 it was announced by the Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support, Lord Drayson, that ABRO would be merged with DARA, the Defence Aviation Repair Agency to become the Defence Support Group with effect from April 1 2008.

Vision and Mission

Prior to the merger with DARA the Trading Fund had established the following mission and vision:

Vision

To become a strong commercial business, providing excellent services to a range of customers, valuable employment opportunities to a diverse workforce and supply base, and long-term value to its shareholders.

Mission

To be the preferred supplier of fleet management services to our customers.

Trading Fund

As a Trading Fund, ABRO has a turnover of £137 M, profit of £5.0 M and ROCE of 6.8%. Prior to the announcement of the merger with DARA, it was widely expected that ABRO would be sold into the private sector. However, this possibility has now been deferred at least for several years.

ABRO employed about 2100 staff.

External links

• Official ABRO site

References