Douglas Equipment

Douglas Equipment Limited is an English manufacturer of aviation support vehicles such as tugs and tractors.

The firm is headquartered in the Arle area of Cheltenham, England with manufacturing operations around the world.

Established as FL Douglas (Equipment) Limited in 1947 by Frank Leslie Douglas, it today is a brand of Textron Ground Support Equipment Inc.[1] Frank Douglas had previously been employed by Universal Power Drives (Unipower), which in 1937 introduced a 4x4 timber tractor, an idea he used when he converted war-surplus 95 bhp AEC Matador 4x4 medium artillery tractors as 4x4 timber tractors.

[1] The firm also built a range of industrial tug trucks for trailer haulage in factories, ports and docks loading ships.

[2] In 2010 the company received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in the categories of Innovation and International Trade.