PRINCE Andrew, the Duke of York, visited Newport yesterday while on official engagements in the city.

His Royal Highness, the fourth in line to the throne, visited the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO-UK, former Patent Office) in Tredegar Park, before officially opening a new £35 million technology centre at EADS on Celtic Springs business park.

The Duke visited UK-IPO to gather further information on the role intellectual property plays in the global economy, and with 1,000 staff based at the Tredegar Park office, Newport is the largest intellectual property office in the UK.

In his role as a Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, the Duke represents the UK at trade fairs and conferences across the world.

The Duke was given a tour around the building by UK-IPO Chief Executive Ian Fletcher but took time out to speak to a handful of staff on the way.

One person to meet the Duke was Head of Central Enquiries Unit Sally-Ann Jones from Rogerstone.

Ms Jones' team deal with 100,000 annual enquiries, and she discussed with the Duke ways in which the services could be improved.

She said how he was asking how UK-IPO advertised its services and that, "he seemed very knowledgeable on what they do".

At Celtic Springs the Duke opened the £35 million technology centre at the UK headquarters of aerospace and defence giant EADS Defence and Security Systems.

The centre will create 100 skilled jobs at the plant and the company has predicted strong growth over the next three years.