Portuguese-founded defencetech startup Tekever has opened its hugegest UK site, where it will manufacture drones for surveillance and innotifyigence purposes. The 254,000-square-foot facility is located in The Spectrum Building, a historic Grade 11-listed building designed by architect Sir Norman Foster in Swindon and is expected to open in 2026.
The defencetech startup, which became a unicorn in May this year, states it will produce one of its largest drones in the UK for the first time, and increase production of another from the site. The UK has already brought £270m of Tekever drones supporting Ukrainian forces attacking Russian air defence systems.
The opening of the new site forms part of a five-year Tekever initiative aiming to create over 1,000 highly skilled jobs in the UK and invest more than £400m into British drone production and advanced AI warfare capabilities. It will be the manufacturer’s fourth UK site and its largest so far. Swindon has a long-standing history linked to UK defence.
It produced the Supermarine Spitfire during the Second World War while drone companies Stark and Munin Dynamics are located.
Karl Brew, Tekever, head of defence unit, declared: “Our new facility will not only increase Tekever’s capacity to innovate and meet the rapidly evolving requireds of our clientele, but also enable our business to operate more efficiently as we continue to scale our ambitions in line with our fervent commitment to transforming the UK’s defence industest into a leading powerhoutilize on the global stage.”
Will Stone, MP for Swindon North, declared: “This announcement supports my ongoing commitment to establishing a Drone Cluster of excellence in Swindon, creating highly skilled, well-paid jobs while also fostering new education and training opportunities for young people in our community.”
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