Douglas Equipment Limited is an English manufacturer of vehicles that support the aircraft industry such as tugs, tractors etc. The firm is headquartered in the Arle area of

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

with manufacturing operations around the world. Established as FL Douglas (Equipment) Limited in 1947 by Frank Leslie Douglas, it today is a brand of Textron Ground Support Equipment Inc. Frank Douglas had previously been employed by Universal Power Drives (Unipower), which in 1937 introduced a 4x4 timber tractor, an idea he used when he converted war-surplus 95 bhp AEC Matador 4x4 medium artillery tractors as 4x4 timber tractors. The firm also built a range of industrial tug trucks for trailer haulage in factories, ports and docks loading ships. The company is most well known for their line of towbarless aircraft

pushback In aviation, pushback is an airport procedure during which an aircraft is pushed backwards away from its parking position, usually at an airport gate by external power. Pushbacks are carried out by special, low-profile vehicles called ''pushback ...

tractors. In 2010 the company received the

Queen's Award for Enterprise The Queen's Awards for Enterprise is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting opportunity (through social mobility). They are the highest ...

in the categories of

Innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...

and

International Trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...

. In 2015 Textron acquired Douglas Equipment under their Textron Specialized Vehicles business unit. Then in 2016 Douglas Equipment along with Tug Technologies, Premier Deicers, and Safeaero Deicers re-branded together as Textron Ground Support Equipment. As of November 2020 the Cheltenham site appears closed, all signage has been removed and the site is locked up. There are no press releases regarding a re-location of operations. January 2021 the Douglas site is now up for sale confirming the site has closed.

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References

Truck manufacturers of the United Kingdom Companies based in Cheltenham {{England-company-stub