Banbury, oh sweet sweet Banbury.
As anyone with a car will know, Banbury’s Junction 11 represents one of the the last outposts on the northbound M40 for God’s county of Oxfordshire, which tells us that our exciting journey has officially begun as we prepare to go beyond the wall.
After Banbury, the postcode changes and as we all know – normal rules do not apply. On our return, we know we’re nearly home when we hit good old ‘Banners’, safe in the knowledge that the county’s bosom awaits.
For those that share our slightly odd sentiments, you’ll know the one company whose titanic warehouse sits aside said signpost: that’s right, it’s Prodrive!
Prodrive designs, constructs and competes racing cars for larger automotive companies and employs nearly 500 people in both Banbury and Milton Keynes.
A bit like the (very sexist) phrase ‘behind every great man there’s a great woman’, behind every great racing car there is probably a Prodive!
Most notably, fans of 90s WRC / Sony Playstations will know that Colin McRae’s award-winning and record-breaking Subaru impreza was built by Prodrive. Other automotive clients include Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, BMW, Ford, Honda, MG, Mini, Renault, Porsche, VW and Volvo. Phew!
Prodrive has also managed teams in both F1 (reviving the fortunes of BAR Honda) and Formula 3000 (Arden, with a young, Geri Halliwell-less Christian Horner as team boss!).
Another reason we love Prodrive is diversification, just like Williams F1 in Grove. Since 2010 Prodrive’s non-motorsport activities have grown to represent the majority of the company’s turnover, with its advanced technology division now delivering engineering solutions into automotive OEMs, aerospace, defence, marine and other sectors.
Prodrive has also worked with the Land Rover BAR America’s Cup team to develop control systems and new technology for the team’s ‘flying’ catamaran, and the company has also announced plans to engineer the world’s lightest folding bike to market, The Hummingbird.
So there you have it! To everyone at Prodrive, from everyone at Selective Recruitment: we salute you!
