MacNeillie is one of the leading and specialist vehicle converters in Europe. The company is part of the Babcock International Group and has been selected by more than 30 police forces for the purchase of more than 100 new public-order vans. The manufacturer was visited by West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson to see the progress being made on the vehicles.

The Walsall based MacNeillie is in the process of generating the Protected Personnel Carriers. The vehicles will be long-bodied and high roofed Mercedes-Benz Sprinters. The vehicles will be taken apart by MacNeillie and then rebuilt to make the vehicle secure, protected and durable for the police to use. It is thought that the West Midlands will purchase around 60 of the vehicles under this agreement that will offer scale savings of more than £800,000 for the wider police purchasing group.

While on his visit to the Walsall site, the Commissioner was given a guided tour of the site and met the local workers that will be participating in the conversion process. Having a wide variety of police forces and agencies from all around the company joining together to make an order with MacNeillie has allowed costs to be driven down. The bulk order is also being completed in the West Midlands, which will lead to a boost to the local economy. The employees that will be working on the conversion will also be employed form the local region which is encouraging to see. It is thought that the new Mercedes-Benz vehicles will be able to serve the police force all around the company well over the coming years.

MacNeillie has also been running an apprenticeship scheme for the last 20 years and works with young people who are attending the colleges in the local area in order to give them the practical experience for their courses. The colleges that are supported by MacNeillie offer the National Vocational Qualification up to Level 4.