A SEND-based company has reaffirmed its commitment to the local community with sponsorship packages for Woking Football Club and Send United’s youth football team.

Vision Engineering Limited has the company’s global headquarters and manufacturing facility in Galileo Drive.

Company founder Rob Freeman grew up in Woking, where he established the company in 1958. In June 2018, Vision Engineering opened its 84,000 ft2 state-of-the-art manufacturing R&D facility and global headquarters in Send—a far cry from the small Nissen hut where it began.

The company said the sponsorship agreement with Woking FC will contribute to the club’s running costs and investment to get to the fourth professional tier.

“Vision Engineering has been manufacturing quality control instruments in Woking since 1958. We now number 250 staff. Many of our colleagues live in Woking and its surrounding villages and towns,” said Mark Curtis, Vision Engineering’s managing director. “We have experienced the good times with Woking FC and the leaner years.

“Although we are very focused on our international customer base, who are manufacturers in aerospace, automotive, electronics, and medical, we are very much a local company and regard the Cards as a resilient local institution.

“We are pleased to support the ambitions of the team and look forward to some great matches and good results.”

As part of its sponsorship deal, Vision Engineering will display its corporate image on a pitch-side banner and scoreboard at Laithwaite Community Stadium.

Grass roots support has not been overlooked either. Send United is a youth football club, established 43 years ago, and which caters for players aged five and upwards. For the fourth consecutive year, the Hurricanes – the Under 11s side – will be wearing Vision Engineering branded football shirts this season.

The company welcomed Princess Anne to the Send HQ last year. She was there to present The Queen’s Award for Enterprise for the firm’s Lynx EVO ergonomic stereo microscope, used for quality control in manufacturing sites around the world, and toured the facility, meeting staff and hearing about the company’s highly successful exporting record.