The Army Base Repair Organisation (ABRO) was an executive agency which reported to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

. It provided engineering, repair and re-manufacturing services to the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, ...

and also to the police and some local councils. ABRO traced its history back to the foundation of the Corps of Armourers in 1858.

History

On 1 April 1993, the Army's static workshops in Great Britain, previously under the control of the Equipment Support Organisation, were reorganised as the Army Base Repair Organisation. It comprised the headquarters at

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * And ...

, a contract repair branch and a network of base and district workshops. It employed 3,581 civilian workers and 219 military staff. Apart from the HQ at Andover, there were other major units at Bovington,

Old Dalby, Leics Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

, Catterick,

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colc ...

, Donnington,

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

and

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

. Smaller sites were located at Bicester,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Sennybridge and

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

. On 1 April 2002, the Army Base Repair Organisation was established as a trading fund under the name ABRO. Its services included: * Maintenance, repair and overhaul * Complex service and repair * Assembly, integration and test * Calibration * Diagnostics * Fleet management * Mobile support teams * Obsolescence management * Re-manufacture * Workshop management ABRO's annual turnover was typically in excess of £147 million and each year carried out work on over 1,000 product lines of military and commercial vehicles and equipment, as well as over 55,000

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with '' a priori''.) C ...

repair tasks. 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 The Defence Aviation Repair Agency, better known as DARA, was an executive agency of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence, responsible for the maintenance and repair of Royal Air Force, Army and the Royal Navy's aircraft. It became part of the ...

to become the Defence Support Group with effect from 1 April 2008.

References

External links

Official ABRO site
{{St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government History of the British Army Military in Hampshire Defence agencies of the United Kingdom Organisations based in Hampshire Test Valley St Athan