An Oxford-based manufacturing firm has announced a turnover of more than £1 billion for 2023.

Unipart said it was "pleased to announce it delivered a strong year of growth and expansion".

In 2023, the company's turnover took a leap to just over £1 billion, up from £917.3 million in 2022,.

This delivered a profit before interest and tax of £21.7 million, up from £12.2 million in 2022.

Darren Leigh, Unipart chief executive officer, said: "I am proud of the progress we've made in accelerating our growth in 2023.

"It was a strong year for us - surpassing £1 billion in revenue and materially strengthening our profitability.

"In the face of ongoing market headwinds and external disruption to global supply chains, Unipart's supply chain solutions and performance improvement technologies are needed by our customers more than ever before."

Mr Leigh continued: "We are uniquely placed to offer deep supply chain expertise coupled with delivery of high performance and value for our customers.

"I would like to thank our colleagues for their dedication and hard work, and our customers and partners for their ongoing support and commitment.

"With a clear growth strategy across our seven core market sectors, a robust order book and a talented, committed team of experts, I am confident in the outlook for 2024 and our next chapter of growth."

Unipart celebrates 50 years of service in 2024, a year Mr Leigh described as "exciting".

He said: "While much has changed over the last half century - today we stand as a diversified business of over 12,000 colleagues operating in 21 countries - what has always remained at Unipart's core is our commitment to serving our customers better than anyone else."

John Neill, Unipart executive chairman, said: "This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Unipart brand and the guiding philosophy established in 1974: 'To understand the real and perceived needs of our customers better than anyone else and serve them better than anyone else'.

"Living by this philosophy has enabled us to continually reinvent our business to participate in the future and continuing to do so is more important than ever."

Mr Neill said the firm needed to "embrace the multitude of generative AI tools" to "keep growing in a faster changing world".

He added: "I have been very encouraged by Darren's personal commitment to the philosophy and unambiguous commitment to The Unipart Way which continues to be our source of competitive advantage.

"Unipart pioneered the stakeholder management philosophy in Britain and I'm grateful to all of our stakeholders, particularly to our customers and all my fellow employees for their engagement, support and commitment."