The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), the national battery manufacturing scale-up facility, has appointed Carol Rose Burke CBE, the Managing Director of Unipart Manufacturing Group (UMG), to its board as a non-executive director.

Having joined Unipart in 1994, Carol is one of the UK’s leading advocates for manufacturing and engineering, and is responsible for UMG’s ‘Manufacturing Partner’ strategy, created to support the automotive sectors shift away from the internal combustion engine to alternative forms of propulsion.

One of UMG’s most recent projects has brought together their expertise in Tier 1 manufacturing, with WAE Technologies’ design, to create Hyperbat Limited. This joint venture has successfully begun manufacturing batteries for the world’s fastest supercar, the Lotus Evija.

Sean Gilgunn, UKBIC’s recently appointed Managing Director, said: “I am delighted with Carol’s appointment to the board. With a career spanning more than 30 years, her experience and insight will be invaluable to us as we develop our capabilities in the battery industry. Carol’s experience in bringing new technologies to market, and ultimately transferring this expertise into non-automotive sectors, will be a fantastic asset to UKBIC and the wider battery industry.”

Carol Rose Burke CBE added: “As a passionate advocate for manufacturing and engineering in the UK, I’m delighted to be joining the board of UKBIC. With the transition to electrification and the global move to zero emission vehicles well underway, and with AESC and Tata Group committed to building battery manufacturing plants in the UK, this is a really exciting time to be joining UKBIC.”

Coventry-based UKBIC is a key part of the Faraday Battery Challenge, a UK Government programme to fast track the development of cost-effective, high-performance, durable, safe, low-weight and recyclable batteries.