Celebrating 50 years


The Unipart brand celebrates its half century in 2024.

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Our origins


The Unipart brand was launched in 1974 to begin the transformation of the parts division of the state-owned car manufacturer British Leyland into a fast-growing consumer brand for all makes of cars.

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A different approach


Within struggling British Leyland, Unipart was one of the few consistently profitable businesses. A growing retail presence was developed in a unique partnership with its distribution network to sell parts for all makes of cars, and batteries, oil, tyres, tools, and accessories to both trade professionals and do-it-yourself motorists.

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Rapid growth


Over the next decade, nearly 600 Unipart shops and 100 Unipart Car Care Centres opened across Britain. ‘Thousands of parts for millions of cars’ and ‘The answer is yes. Now what’s the question?’, were national advertising campaigns that helped to shape the company’s ‘can do’ culture.

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Management buyout


Unipart was subject to a management buyout in 1987 led by John Neill, who saw an opportunity to translate Unipart’s operational excellence tools and techniques, learned from Japanese Lean experts, into the logistics services sphere.

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Royal recognition


Thanks to an ambitious diversification strategy, by 1994 Unipart had grown to become one of the UK’s largest independent logistics providers and had transformed its manufacturing plants into winning Britain’s best factory awards.

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Expansion across sectors


Numerous customer successes, entry into the rail industry, international expansion, manufacturing joint ventures, and acquisitions in the technology sector, continued to underscore the business’s evolution and growth, shaping Unipart into the recognisable entity it is today.

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Customer promise


What has remained at the core of the Unipart brand for the last half century is the customer promise: ‘To understand the real and perceived needs of our customers better than anyone else and serve them better than anyone else.’ At the centre of delivering our customer promise is The Unipart Way.

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Find us

Unipart is a global business operating in 21 countries, with headquarters in the UK.

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Join us

Unipart is committed to investing in people, enabling everyone to fulfil their potential and build a rewarding career.

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Talk to us

Unipart’s supply chain and performance improvement technologies experts are keen to speak to you about resilience, sustainability and growing your business.

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50 years of the Unipart Brand

Unipart celebrates 50 years of the brand in 2024.