Early activities
Unipart was formed in 1969 as the aftermarket parts division of British Leyland (BL), under the management of John Egan, who then ran it as an independent subsidiary of BL from 1974 onwards. The use of the Unipart brand to market service parts for BL vehicles was similar in concept to Ford's Motorcraft brand. The following year, BL was effectively nationalised, while Egan left in 1976 to join Massey Ferguson.[4]
Egan was replaced by 29-year-old John Neill, who continued Egan's policy of providing the same logistical services to BL's competitors as well as to its parent. In 1987, shortly after BL had been re-privatised as the Rover Group, Neill led a management buyout of Unipart, in part financed by a wider employee buy-in.[5] External backing for this buyout came from several companies, including Electra, 3i and Standard Life; by 2007, the value of their investment in Unipart had reportedly multiplied 80-fold.[5] By 2005, Unipart was 70% owned by its workforce and pension fund, the other 30% is held by sympathetic institutions; shares in the company were not purchasable by the general public.[5]
Following the buyout, Unipart's main business focus was on distribution and logistics, including the marketing and distribution of automotive products; it also held two manufacturing sites.[6] During 1988, the company secured a contract to produce parts for Honda's factory in Swindon.[7] That same year, Unipart launched its Mark in Action programme, under which employees are periodically selected for a certificate of merit for which they are nominated for by their peers; these scheme is aimed at encouraging all members of staff to make improvements.[5]
During 1994, Unipart exited the factoring sector via the sale of its Edmunds Walker chain to Finelist.
During May 1999, Unipart purchased the Partco network, a distributor of parts in the automotive aftermarket sector, after which Partco was eventually rebranded as Unipart Automotive.[8] The Partco acquisition created the largest automotive parts distribution business in the UK, employing in excess of 10,000 people.[9] In spite of this acquisition and the company's background, Unipart gradually transitioned towards earning revenue in other sectors; by the late 2000s, the automotive parts sector only contributed half of its overall turnover.[5]
In 2000, Unipart suspended dividends to shareholders on account of a significant financial shortfall in its pension fund.[5] Measures to rectify this, which continued for the rest of the decade, including the closure of the pension fund to new employees and a lengthy period without any dividends. Part of the company's poor financial performance at this time was due to the Partco acquisition and resulting litigation actions.[5][10]
During early 2006, the company announced a 10-year deal with Vodafone to operate its mobile phone handset repair business.[11] By 2007, Unipart was handling logistics for several major British retailers, including Homebase, Boots, and Halfords.[5] In 2009, the firm was chosen by Sky to operate its set-top box repair business, including logistics, recycling services, and fleet management.[12]
Divestures and acquisitions
During January 2014, Unipart announced the development of two new manufacturing facilities, one at the Coventry site focused on high-tech fuel system components and one at Kautex Unipart Ltd as part of its partnership with German company Kautex Textron.[13]
In 2014, Vince Cable, the then Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills and the APC (Advanced Propulsion Centre) launched the ACTIVE (Advanced Combustion Turbocharge Inline Variable Valvetrain Engine) project supported by the Automotive Council at Ford's Dunton Technical Centre, focused on the advancement of propulsion development and production. The project included work at 11 partner locations, including Unipart Eberspacher Exhaust Systems.[14]
In April 2014, Unipart announced a five-year logistics contract with Qoros Automotive based in Changshu, China.[15]
During 2014, Unipart Group began working with Andrew Page and the UK Parts Alliance to ensure that British used car owners would continue to be supported via Unipart Car Care Centres, which are based in towns across the UK, and delivered the same standard of service to their customers.
Automotive sector
In 2011, 51% of the Unipart Automotive parts business was sold to H2 Equity Partners while the remaining 49% was retained by Unipart Group. A condition of the sale was that Unipart Group exercised no control over the business.[21] Under its new ownership, Unipart Automotive was granted a restricted licence by Unipart Group to use the Unipart brand on a limited range of wholesale outlets and a tightly controlled range of automotive car parts in the UK.[22]
During 2012, Unipart started a multi-year logistics contract with Toyota's Indian subsidiary covering its Bangalore site. Two years later, the company signed a second distribution contract with Toyota, to expand its management of distribution operations to Kolkata.[23][24]
In April 2013, H2 sold Sator Holding to Unipart Automotive's main rival Euro Car Parts in exchange for £176 million.[25]
Rail sector
During early 1997, amid the wider privatisation of British Rail, Unipart backed a management-led buyout team at the formerly state-owned National Railway Supplies, a servicer and distributor of signalling and telecom equipment for the rail industry, and thus acquired a minority shareholding in the newly privatised company.[30] Four year later, the company purchased 100 percent of the firm, including its York, Brighton and Crewe locations, after which it was rebranded as Unipart Rail.[31]
During early 2014, Unipart started work with the University of Huddersfield's Institute of Railway Research to develop The Centre for Innovation in Rail.[32][33] Later that same year, the company announced the creation of a new UK-orientated joint venture with Lucchini RS Group; this venture was named LUR Limited and produced railway wheels and wheelsets along with other activities.[34]
Technology sector
During early 2006, Unipart announced a 10-year deal with Vodafone to operate its mobile phone handset repair business.[11]
