Last Concorde gets £4.7m grant for permanent Bristol home

Concorde 216, affectionately known as Foxy, was the last British Concorde assembled at the Filton site and the last of the fleet to fly

An aerospace centre that will house the last Concorde to fly has been awarded a £4.7m Heritage Lottery Fund grant.

The planned £16m centre, at the former Filton airfield in Bristol, will mark the city's aerospace heritage and be a permanent home for Concorde 216.

Concorde 216 - or Alpha Foxtrot - has been in the care of Airbus UK since it was withdrawn from service in 2003.

Mark Stewart, from Airbus, said "It is great news - we look forward to being able to move Concorde under cover."

The jet has been at Filton since 2003 but was closed to the public in October 2010 for maintenance.

A 9.5-acre site at Filton has been earmarked for the new centre by Bristol Aero Collection Trust, which is behind the project.

'Great anniversary present'

Due to open in 2017, it will boast an industrial museum, interactive galleries and a "major new building" to present Concorde 216 in an "exciting and dynamic way".

"Concorde was largely designed and built at Filton, with the first British flight taking off in 1969 and the final supersonic flight of any Concorde in the world landing at the airfield on 26 November 2003," said Iain Gray, chair of the trust.

"This grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund is a great anniversary present for this icon of British design and innovation."

The trust said it had also received "significant pledged support" from BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Airbus and South Gloucestershire Council.

Howard Mason, from BAE Systems, said the company "remain committed to the success of the project".

"The Bristol site is a key component in the history of BAE Systems and we are very happy that the trust will protect and exploit the historical material from the site in telling the story of bold aerospace innovation in Bristol over the last century," he said.