The very first episode of The Hour, a ground-breaking new BBC One Wales series, was filmed at GS Yuasa Battery Manufacturing UK Ltd in Ebbw Vale, Wales last night (Monday 30th October). The monthly national debate show began its tour of locations across the country with an hour- long broadcast from the GS Yuasa battery manufacturing facility.
GS Yuasa hosted a large television production team and welcomed over 70 guests, including high profile politicians, for the televised debate. The Hour’s large auditorium style set made its debut appearance having been built within the factory itself, surrounded by Yuasa Industrial batteries and manufacturing equipment.
The show featured an introduction from presenter Catrin Nye filmed alongside one of GS Yuasa’s battery production lines along with drone footage of the factory site from above.
The debate tackled the subject of work in Wales with members of the public, politicians and experts sitting side by side as they explored each subject. Viewers also connected with the programme through social media with reporter Steffan Powell bringing their voices to the screen during the programme.
GS Yuasa Battery Manufacturing UK Ltd is a large state of the art manufacturing facility. Production began at the site in 1982 and since then well over 80 million batteries have been produced ranging in capacity from 0.8 to 540 ampere hours.
Over 60% of products are exported, mainly within Europe, with the largest markets including uninterruptible power supply (UPS), emergency backup power for computer systems, security and fire alarms, telecommunications and other applications. In such a competitive environment, GS Yuasa has always remained at the forefront of technology whilst maintaining the highest possible standards and unrivalled reliability.
Andrew Taylor, Commercial Director of GS Yuasa Europe Ltd said: “We are delighted to have hosted the very first episode of The Hour at our UK manufacturing facility in Ebbw Vale.
“Production at the facility began in 1982 and since then we have produced over 80 million high quality industrial batteries at the site. We are one of the largest employers in the local area, employing close to 400 skilled workers with the vast majority of the workforce living within ten miles of the factory.
“We very much enjoyed hosting the large production crew, impressive set and welcoming members of the public, politicians and experts to our facility.”
The Hour was broadcast at 10.40pm on Monday 30th October. You can watch the programme on the BBC IPlayer here
