Total disaster fuels investment in 1,000th UK Citizen machine

The Pitstone, Leighton Buzzard sub-contractor, part of the Colbree Engineering Group, was previously sited some 200 m from the perimeter fence of the Total-operated, Total and Texaco co-owned Buncefield fuel terminal, Hemel Hempstead. When the terminal went up in smoke last December, Colbree’s production machinery felt the heat, literally, while the building became uninhabitable. Forty-employee Colbree lost three Citizen sliding-head machines in the disaster – two M32s and one L20 and has replaced them with three – two M32-V models and an L20-VIII, all later generation models. It was one of the M32s that was the 1,000th machine, as a certificate attested when the machine crate was opened. The investment in new Citizen machinery totals £500,000 and the three machines were the first to be operating in the company’s new home, in late January. Picture: Steve Bree, Colbree technical director, left, receives the commemorative plaque from Citizen UK agent NC Engineering managing director Geoff Bryant