Carol Rose Burke, Managing Director of Manufacturing, Engineering and Design at Unipart, explains why she feels UK manufacturing is sitting on a unique supply chain opportunity to write the next chapter in its industrial history.
Manufacturing’s natural world order has been changing for some time, but it feels that we’ve arrived at a pivotal moment for UK industry in recent months.
Trump’s tariffs, global conflict, soaring energy prices and widespread disruption have all added to the melting pot of complexities currently facing management teams from John o’ Groats to Land’s End.
Whilst the dreaded ‘uncertainty’ doesn’t exactly breed confidence, it can make us look at the status quo and what we can do differently.
Carol Rose Burke, Managing Director – Manufacturing, Engineering and Design at Unipart, a supply chain performance improvement partner, goes even further when asked about UK industry.
With 40 years’ experience in the sector, it’s an opinion that resonates more than most and offers a clear blueprint for what the future could hold.
“We have a golden opportunity to redraw supply chains for the next 50 years, it’s as simple as that. However, as a country, we must be bold and brave; this needs to stem from the government, trade bodies and academia through to OEMs/Primes, Tier 1s and suppliers.
“The opportunity is not only in OEM/Prime production. We have deep domestic capability across entire supply chains – components, systems, electrification, engineering, advanced manufacturing and industrialisation. If better connected to demand in multiple sectors, this could contribute significantly to growth.”
She continued: “Demand signals from OEMs matter. Suppliers can invest, scale and innovate, but they need clearer long-term signals from OEMs and government to justify the capital and capability required to support the UK’s desire to reach 1.3m vehicle production by 2035.
“If we invest in both capacity and capabilities, then we can be as competitive as any country – especially when you factor in the actual ‘landing price’ of parts if sourced overseas.
“Today, we see that cost is so much more than just manufacture – it’s predictability and reliability on when you can get that part, and it’s the cost impact on the supply chain when this gets disrupted. 2026 has been unprecedented in delivering so many factors that can cause that disruption.
“This is driving reshoring opportunities…it’s early days, but there’s a shift in momentum. We’re already seeing examples at Unipart where existing and new customers are bringing projects back home, quoting a desire for shorter, more secure supply chains that deliver both operational and environmental benefits.”
Carol started her industrial career at British Steel, before joining GKN and moving to Unipart in 1994.
Over the next three decades, she has been involved in some of the organisation’s biggest milestone moments, driving its involvement in the groundbreaking Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME) and supporting the integration of battery specialist Hyperbat into the Unipart family.
Throughout this journey, she has been a passionate advocate of UK engineering and manufacturing, and this passion flows into her role as a Board Member at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
“The government is welcoming discussion about how it can help,” added Carol. “We as a nation need more action. We need to scale up supply chains and get behind not just the design and development of new technology, but the actual businesses who are prepared to produce in the UK. It’s time to commercialise all the innovation we are breeding.
“If I became UK Minister for Manufacturing, I’d appoint an expert to go deeper than the Industrial Strategy by mapping out the entire supply chain and identifying our ‘sweet spots’ – by that I mean the sectors and products that will deliver the most growth.
“Get this right, align the funding mechanisms, and get the message out there. If we do this, I have no doubt the UK can lead the world in many new technologies, bridging the valley of commercial death that has plagued us for so long in the process.”
We have a golden opportunity to redraw supply chains for the next 50 years, it’s as simple as that. However, as a country, we must be bold and brave; this needs to stem from the government, trade bodies and academia through to OEMs/Primes, Tier 1s and suppliers.
The opportunity is not only in OEM/Prime production. We have deep domestic capability across entire supply chains – components, systems, electrification, engineering, advanced manufacturing and industrialisation. If better connected to demand in multiple sectors, this could contribute significantly to growth.
Carol Rose Burke, Managing Director of Manufacturing, Engineering and Design, Unipart
We have a golden opportunity to redraw supply chains for the next 50 years, it’s as simple as that. However, as a country, we must be bold and brave; this needs to stem from the government, trade bodies and academia through to OEMs/Primes, Tier 1s and suppliers.As a visiting Professor at Aston University, Carol is also firmly behind investment decisions that deliver long-term certainty.
She is adamant that the UK must remain competitive on energy, skills and speed to market if it wants to attract sustained funding and scale industrial capability domestically.
“One of the biggest risks today is losing supplier capability through distress or under-investment, particularly as global disruption continues to expose reliance on overseas supply chains.
“We are seeing this on the ground, with several UK suppliers at threat of going under. This collective expertise and knowledge would be a huge loss to the industry, and we can’t let this happen. With this in mind, we are currently exploring potential acquisition opportunities to secure the future of these skills and abilities for decades to come.”
Navigating the complexities
Carol’s approach is shaped by overseeing the recent transformation of Design, Engineering and Manufacturing at Unipart, which employs 8,500+ colleagues and records annual sales of over £1bn across the group.
There is now a much wider view at the organisation that the focus should be on its capabilities, processes and what it does well, rather than just being a supplier of services.
Whilst automotive and its journey towards electrification are still core markets, both Unipart’s UK and global operations now target an end-to-end supply chain offer to nine sectors.
Aerospace, defence, healthcare and technology are offering early potential and can easily benefit from technology transfer, just-in-time manufacturing and proven product development methodology.
Although a lot of the conversation makes sense, there are still barriers to overcome for UK manufacturers looking to diversify.
“There’s plenty of sectors that can benefit from the deep supply chain capability that has been developed in the automotive industry, there’s no doubt about that. There is also increasing demand from sectors, such as construction and nuclear, who need to accelerate production quickly,” commented Carol.
“This should equate to a positive opportunity, yet there is a notable industry reluctance to buy from suppliers who are extremely capable but lacking a proven track record in the sector.
“There is a huge amount of capability, knowledge and IP sitting within UK businesses, but many are not yet at the size or scale needed to take products into full commercial delivery, particularly in sectors like defence where demand is growing quickly.
“Funding must be tied more clearly to UK industrial outcomes. We can support R&D and innovation, but unless there is a stronger route to commercialisation and domestic production, there is a risk that publicly supported innovation is developed here and then scaled elsewhere.
“That’s where businesses like Unipart can play an important role in joining the dots, helping to industrialise and commercialise cutting-edge ideas so they become real production capability in the UK.”
Carol, who is one of the expert panellists at this year’s SMMT International Automotive Summit on June 30th, concluded: “I’ve got over 40 years’ experience in manufacturing and I’m as passionate now as I was when I first started out.
“This passion is based on the UK having an opportunity to reshape its own manufacturing future by redrawing our supply chain capability. We just need to be confident in what we do well, back it by all means necessary and shout about it whenever we get the chance to do so.”
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