Ford of Britain chairman Dr Graham Hoare OBE joins Britishvolt

Dr Graham Hoare OBE has left his role as chairman of Ford of Britain to join UK based electric vehicle (EV) battery producer Britishvolt as its president of global operations.

Hoare, who is also the current chair of the UK Automotive Council, brings 39 years of automotive industry leadership experience to his new role with Britishvolt, including extensive expertise in product and business development.

Billed as UK’s foremost investor in lithium-ion battery cell technologies, Britishvolt currently said today that it "remains on track" to begin construction of its gigaplant located in Blyth, Northumberland.

The business aims to start production of batteries for automotive applications by the end of 2023, scaling-up to full production of 30GWh in 2027.

In this newly-created role, Hoare will report to Britishvolt’s founder and chief executive, Orral Nadjari, and will be responsible for leading the global functional operations of the business and to seek out future expansion opportunities.

Nadjari said: “Graham brings significant and wide-reaching industry experience to Britishvolt, further enhancing the expertise of our global leadership team.

“His career to date proves he is an outstanding automotive industry leader, with extensive engineering and business development skills, which will be invaluable to Britishvolt as our business continues to grow and gain momentum.

“We are delighted to have Graham on the team and are looking forward to working with him as we move to the next phase of our development, powering the future of electrification.”

Hoare said: “Britishvolt’s mission to place itself at the forefront of battery technology is of great importance as we move, collectively, towards net-zero targets.

“It’s crucial that Britishvolt continues its impressive trajectory and delivers world-class products. Batteries will be at the very centre of the energy transition.

“I am hugely excited to join the talented Britishvolt team and look forward to bringing my knowledge and experience acquired in the automotive industry to help play a part in Britishvolt’s future success.”

Prior to joining Britishvolt, Hoare was Chairman of Ford of Britain and also Executive Director for Business Transformation.

In these positions he was responsible for leading the restructuring of Ford’s operations in the UK.

Hoare had previously held a number of other senior engineering positions at Ford in North America and the UK, and also with Land Rover and the BMW Group in Germany.

In 2018, he was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to the UK Motor Industry.

In 2020, in the midst of the global Coronavirus pandemic, Hoare led the Penlon/Ventilator Challenge UK project, in partnership with other industry leaders, creating a production facility in Ford Dagenham and three other sites across the UK.

He oversaw the industrialisation process that built more than 11,000 Penlon Prima ES02 ventilators in 105 days for use by the National Health Service for critically ill COVID-19 patients.