THE new multi-million pound offices at Taunton's UK Hydrographic Office received the Royal seal of approval this week when Princess Anne went along to officially open the new facility on Admiralty Way.

The County Gazette has been chatting to some of the key players there to get a taste of what goes on inside the chart making operation as it moves from paper to digital.

Rear Admiral Tim Lowe is the acting chief executive and he here reflects on 224 years of history and the need to prepare the UKHO for the next two centuries.

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He said: "For us as a team, it's all about the future - we're on a transformational journey, moving from an operation based in creating charts and safety of navigation to meet the demand of the marine and maritime community as more government organisations come to understand the value of geospatial data to improve safety at sea and protect and understand the habitat and sustainability vital for our oceans for the benefit of  the UK."

While the UK is surrounded by 760 square kilometres of water, that figure grows to 2 million sq km when including overseas dependencies.

"That's a great opportunity," said Admiral Lowe.

"We're still produving charts to help the mariner remain safe at sea, but we do much more, giving the information we collect to those that need it and to protect our oceans into the future."

Referring to the new offices, he added: "It was designed to be collaborative, flexible and agile to meet the demands of the next 200 years.

"The UKHO was formed 224 years ago in 1795 at a time when the Royal Navy was losing more ships to navigational incidents than to the various wars at that time.

"Since then we have been ensuring the safety of life at sea by providing information to the mariner to enable them to make the right decisions.

"We will continue to chart the globe, working in partnership with 113 nations and helping 71 nations deliver their charts responsibly around the world."

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He said the Princess Royal's visit was "all about my great team", who he described as "our family, our community".

The UKHO has been part of the Taunton community since the early 1940s and was moved completely to the town in the 1960s.

"It's great we're here to stay now," said Admiral Lowe.

"We've got a new bulding and we've put an anchor down here and we intend to keep it grounded.

"We're changing our skill sets and we're hoping to grow.

"The Princess's visit is about my people, celebrating the great work they do.

"It's fantastic that she agreed to come and open our building for us."