TWO bronze sculptures made by award-winning artists have been unveiled outside a factory in Malmesbury to mark a special milestone.

Engineering company Sweetnam & Bradley Limited - which is situated in Station Yard Car Park, Malmesbury - manufactures sheet metal components and defibrillator cabinets and employs 42 local people.

This year marks the company's 65th anniversary so its owners Nigel and Bella Roberts wanted to do something special to celebrate.

The Roberts decided to purchase two bronze chimpanzee sculptures - called Adysa, Annissa and Cassie - which were created by artists Gillie and Marc Schattner.

These sculptures were part of the artists' Chimps Are Family trail which were scattered around London Bridge and Tower Bridge last summer, and now two of them stand outside Sweetnam & Bradley Limited.

Gillie and Marc's highly coveted sculptures and paintings can be seen in art galleries and public sites in more than 250 cities across the world.

These include monumental public exhibitions for wildlife, including The Last Three and King Nyani in New York and The Orphans in London.

In addition, the Roberts thought it was high time for a defibrillator cabinet to be installed outside their factory, to serve its staff and the wider community.

The bronze sculptures and Heartsafe AED Locator were unveiled outside the factory to an eager crowd of Sweetnam & Bradley staff, town leaders and Malmesbury residents on Tuesday, November 21.

Mayor Gavin Grant, alongside with three pensioners from the Royal Chelsea Hospital, unveiled the defibrillator.

Headteacher of Malmesbury Primary School Steve Heal and his Year 6 house captains and vice-captains also helped unveil the statues.

Sweetnam & Bradley managing director Christian Olejnik said: "We had a great morning celebrating our incredible 65th anniversary in the beautiful town of Malmesbury. 

"The owners of Sweetnam & Bradley recently donated money to the WWF and purchased two wonderful bronze sculptures.

"They were the creation of the world famous artist duo Gillie and Marc and stood on The Queen's Walk by the Tower of London for most of last year.

"We are proud to announce that Sweetnam & Bradley is their new home. 

"Being sheet metal work specialists we are also very proud to have a Heartsafe AED Locator installed outside our factory.

"We manufacture their defibrillator cabinets and bleed kit metalwork and as a result we thought it high time that the Station Yard area of Malmesbury was provided with a defibrillator and bleed kit.

"These have now been installed onto the end of our factory and to be used by all. 

"We thought both of the above were perfect opportunities to invite the town to celebrate with us."