New England Laminates (UK) Ltd, Skelmersdale, Lancashire Nelco SA, Mirebeau sur Bèze, near Dijon

Those Circuit World readers aware of the writer's appreciation of the varied delights of regional cuisine may be forgiven for assuming that the above choice of venues was determined by some personal predilection for Lancashire Hotpot and Mignon de porc à la graine de moutarde (of the Dijon variety, of course). There was, admittedly, a brief opportunity to savour the local fare in each case, but the real purpose of these successive visits was to ‘explore’ the activities at New England Laminates Company's two European production facilities.