In a year of milestones for Ford of Britain, the company is celebrating its centenary and also recognising 80 years of production at Ford Dagenham, its largest UK facility.

From Edsel Ford digging the first turf in May 1929 to the first vehicle, a Model AA truck, rolling off the production line on 1 October 1931, Ford's Dagenham estate took 28 months to build. Roll forward 80 years and Dagenham remains Ford's largest UK facility and one of the country's main automotive centres.

Dagenham today is home to an engine plant, a stamping plant and tool room, a powertrain engineering team and a substantial transport operation. Some 4,500 people work on the Dagenham Estate, making it London’s largest industrial employer.

In its 80 years, nearly 11 million vehicles and more than 38 million engines have been built at the 475-acre site.

And Dagenham’s future looks bright, with Ford committing to a £1.5 billion of investment in affordable, low CO2 technologies over the next five years at its four UK engineering and manufacturing facilities.