Prodrive

A Banbury-based motorsport and advanced engineering company that runs race and rally programmes and builds specialist vehicles and technology.

About Prodrive

Prodrive is an engineering company with motorsport at its heart. It runs racing and rally programmes for manufacturers, carries out advanced technology work for the automotive, aerospace and marine industries, builds vehicles such as the Hunter Hypercar, and has a merchandise and clothing business called Brand&. Its tagline is "Performance Unlimited".

It was founded in 1984 by David Richards, a former World Rally Championship-winning co-driver, and its first event was the Qatar International Rally, which it won on 27 January 1984. Its history includes the Subaru World Rally Team (1989 to 2008), Aston Martin Racing with Le Mans class wins, the Ferrari 550 GTS and the Dakar Rally with its BRX Hunter, which finished second overall in 2022 and 2023.

Prodrive's headquarters are at Chalker Way in Banbury, Oxfordshire, with a composites business in Milton Keynes and an electrical wiring facility in Shropshire. It says it has more than 500 people. It supported the JCB Hydromax hydrogen land speed record attempt, and offers public tours of its Banbury base.

Its website states its purpose as "To change the game". It lists its values as creative, can do, rigorous, relentless and integrity, and describes a culture of building winning teams and doing whatever it takes. These are the company's own words. Problem-solving drawn from motorsport, meaning speed, capability, teamwork and innovation, is applied across all areas of the business. Its Brand& business has worked with clients including Pirelli F1, Infiniti and Aston Martin, and Prodrive also makes a folding bicycle and a racing simulator, which shows how widely it applies its design skills. Its leadership team includes engineers, finance and operations leaders. Its leaders include John Gaw, who runs the motorsport business and helped grow Aston Martin Racing into the world's largest works and customer sports car operation, and Dr Iain Roche, who leads Advanced Technology after earlier roles at HS2 and Rolls-Royce.

Departments named on its website include Motorsport, Advanced Technology, Composites, Brand& and group finance and operations. That means roles for engineers, technicians, composite makers, designers, marketers and business specialists as well as race mechanics. If you like fast-moving projects and tight deadlines, Prodrive shows how motorsport skills carry into wider industry.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Rally and track racing programmes for manufacturers and teams.', 'title': 'Motorsport programmes'}
• {'desc': 'Engineering for automotive, aerospace, marine and other industries.', 'title': 'Advanced Technology'}
• {'desc': 'Specialist vehicles and carbon composite manufacturing.', 'title': 'Vehicles and composites'}
• {'desc': 'Bespoke clothing, merchandise and accessories.', 'title': 'Brand&'}

Key facts

• Founded 1984 by David Richards; HQ in Banbury, Oxfordshire
• More than 500 people (company website)
• Subaru WRC titles: three manufacturers (1995 to 1997) and three drivers (1995, 2001, 2003)
• Composites business in Milton Keynes

Website: www.prodrive.com