Unipart calls for UK industrial strategy
THE GOVERNMENT needs to give UK companies a clear picture of Britain’s industrial strategy to compete in global markets to build investment confidence, as Unipart chairman says ‘we want to invest in Britain’.
Unipart chairman John Neill spoke about the issue in an interview with the BBC. Neill was responding to concerns that the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which offers billions of dollars in subsidies and tax credits to US businesses producing greener technologies, will impact UK companies.
The UK government recently announced it had no plans to provide similar subsidies and would not go toe-to-toe with its allies and get involved in what Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called "some distortive global subsidy race". The EU, however, has responded to the IRA with plans for a Net Zero Industry Act to increase its subsidies for green industry.
According to Neill, Unipart has no intention of shifting its operations to the US, although there are fears that some other companies might do so.
“Unipart set out to build a world class British company that can compete and operate globally. And so, for us to invest, we need to understand what Britain's industrial strategy is, and what our regulatory framework is going to be. And we're not clear about any of that.”
Neill said that subsidies in the US and Europe have led Unipart to consider its future investment strategies abroad. “It goes against the grain,” he said, “we want to invest in Britain.”
Results
Unipart Group announced strong financial results for the year ended 31 December 2022, with group turnover increasing year-on-year from £821.6m to £917.3m, and underlying Group profit before interest and tax from £9.6m to £12.2m.
Company highlights include new contracts with JCB and Airbus which will see nearly 1,000 people join the company in 2023, and Unipart Manufacturing’s electric vehicle battery production facility joint venture began making battery packs for the new all-electric Lotus Evija hypercar.
Chief executive Darren Leigh said Unipart’s strong performance in 2022 resulted from a clear focus on delivering innovative, value-added supply chain solutions for new and existing customers in a challenging business environment.
“Despite the global challenges affecting economies and supply chains, 2022 was a positive year for Unipart, with double-digit revenue and earnings growth across our business. We responded to the economic headwinds with courage and agility, and we start 2023 with a strong orderbook and are ideally placed for long-term sustainable growth.”
