Chronological history:

1985: The Komatsu UK (KUK) plant was established in Chester-le-Street, near Newcastle
1986: Substantial plant refurbishment undertaken
1987: The factory was officially opened by HRH Prince of Wales, and production of excavators and wheel loaders commenced, mainly for European markets
1988: The EEC accepted KUK as a European manufacturer with a local content level of 60% (today over 80%)
1989: Started wheel loader production (on a very modest scale)
1990: Introduced Dash-5 series crawler excavators
1991: Moved wheel loader production to KOHAG
1991: Manufactured its 500th unit
1991: Achieved Queen’s Award for Export (valid 3 years)
1991: Constructed the new “Design and Development Centre”
1992: Introduced the first Komatsu product designed in Europe - the PW170-5 wheeled excavator
1993: Opened the customer visitor centre
1994: Produced its 10,000th unit
1994: Achieved Investors in People Award
1995: Introduced the Dash-6 series crawler excavators
1997: 10th Anniversary of manufacturing at KUK
1998: Achieved the ISO14001 designation
1999: Produced the 20,000th KUK-built excavator
1999: Established the machine demonstration area
2000: Achieved Queen’s Award for Enterprise (valid 5 years)
2002: Introduced the new series of Dash-7 excavators
2003: Expanded the range of wheeled excavators with the introduction of the models PW200-7 and PW220-7
2004: Developed and manufactured unique road/rail machines
2005: Introduced PW160-7 and PW180-7 wheeled excavators
2005: Produced its 40,000th KUK-built excavator
2006: Introduced the new series of Dash-8 excavators
2007: Komatsu UK celebrate 20 years of its official opening.