April 2023 – “We want to invest in Britain” Unipart Chairman 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. That’s the view of Unipart Chairman John Neill in an interview with the BBC today. 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 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 strategy is and 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.”
Unipart Chief Executive Officer Darren Leigh reiterated Unipart’s commitment to the UK. Unipart will
shortly be releasing its financial results in which Unipart reports a strong year in 2022 and sees
continued growth this year. The company will announce increased profits and revenue, and lists a
number of new contracts and contract extensions with existing customers.