The King visited GCHQ’s North West base where he met with teams from across the organisation, including graduates from GCHQ’s apprenticeship scheme and Director GCHQ, Sir Jeremy Fleming.
In his former role as the Prince of Wales, His Majesty was the patron of the UK intelligence services and received several briefings from GCHQ’s mission teams and as monarch receives intelligence reports.
His Majesty was also the guest of honour for a local primary school class who were invited to take part in a special lesson at GCHQ’s Manchester office. The Co-Op Academy New Islington’s lesson was part of GCHQ’s work to inspire the next generation of codebreakers, engineers, mathematicians from the North West.
Heron House, which opened in late 2019, is the home to GCHQ’s newest offices in Albert Square in the heart of Manchester, contributing to an already thriving technology scene. The hi-tech premises sees the agency using cutting edge technology and technical ingenuity to identify and disrupt threats to the UK while allowing the agency to draw on the talents of companies and people in one of the most vibrant and diverse cities in the UK. The offices come complete with public space designed for welcoming local technology start-ups and innovators to collaborate with the agency on some of the biggest tech challenges of the day.
