The Royal British Legion Industries company celebrates 105th birthday

KentOnline / KMTV

The Royal British Legion Industries company, also known as the RBLI, was set up a hundred and five years ago.   Its workers make plenty of items including road and train signs that are used across the country.   Henry Luck reports.

Transcript

00:00It was the end of the First World War, and many veterans needed help returning to civilian life.

00:06Royal British Legion Industries, known as Industrial Settlements Incorporated before 1944,

00:14started helping those discharged from service with their first sign-making factory, opening in 1964.

00:23Now called Britain's Bravest Manufacturing,

00:26the business makes signs for use on roads and train tracks, even creating the RBLI's signature

00:33Tommy figures. And this is an example of what Britain's Bravest Manufacturing makes

00:39right here in its factory in Aylesford, as a quarter million of signs like this

00:45are transported and used across the UK. The work of the company has been recognised by

00:51important UK figures, such as the late Queen Elizabeth II.

00:56Well, yeah, I was here when the Queen visited back in 2019 to celebrate our 100th anniversary.

01:03It was a very proud day. I got to meet her, along with a lot of the staff got to meet her as well.

01:07So that was, yeah, we feel very proud and privileged to be able to get some real high

01:12profile visitors, and let's hope that we get some more in the future. You never know,

01:17the King might decide to come and visit. So let's wait and see.

01:21Today, Britain's Bravest has a team of over 100 people, many of whom are disabled.

01:27I was injured in Afghanistan on my second operative in 2012. I was retired and

01:36I'm working in the Royal British Legion Industries since then. And there are lots

01:42of other veterans who work with me together and serve with me together as well. So very

01:48pleased to work in the factory. It's a proud moment for me.

01:54With much success in the past, what does the future hold?

01:58We're entering into several new markets. One is house builder signage. That's all of the sales

02:03and marketing signage. And then the construction signage, so safety signage, wear a hard hat,

02:10goggles and so on. And then hoardings. So you're now seeing hoardings not only for houses, but

02:16in city centres, where there's city centre development. Hoardings are used as a communication

02:22vehicle. So that's very much a natural extension of our capability. And we're moving into both

02:27those markets with some success. Over 100 years later, Britain's

02:32Bravest Manufacturing is still going strong, pointing many veterans in the right direction.

02:39Henry Luck for KMTV in Ellesford.

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