Millbrook, UK – 2025: UTAC, a global leader in automotive testing and proving grounds, has appointed Kirsty Andrew as Vice President of its operations in the UK.
With one hundred years of history, UTAC has become a cornerstone of the automotive industry, delivering a wide range of services from vehicle development to certification and safety testing, with a portfolio of proving grounds and testing facilities that span the globe.
The best-known facility in UTAC’s global portfolio is Millbrook in Bedfordshire. Millbrook offers world-class proving and testing ground facilities, and alongside the second UK site in Leyland, Lancashire, leads the way in the electrification and autonomous era of product development – with state-of-the-art provisions to accommodate a whole new set of requirements beyond the traditional automotive rulebook. Kirsty Andrew is appointed to oversee all UK operations in her new role.
She brings a wealth of experience in vehicle testing and development, having spent many years in motorsport, including Formula 1, and most of the last decade at Millbrook – in roles including Managing Director of the Special Vehicles department and Vice President of Security and Defence.
Commenting on her appointment as Vice President – UK, Kirsty said: “After almost a decade working at Millbrook, I look forward to harnessing my experience and skills to build on our UK operations, ensuring we continue to offer the highest level of testing solutions in a fast-changing world of mobility. Innovation and development are the vital ingredients to progress in transportation – we aim to build on our status as a market-leader in testing; from component level to whole vehicle, supporting our clients’ programmes to create safer and cleaner vehicles, growing our new areas of expertise in the emerging technologies for autonomous, connected and electric vehicles.”
“There is also a personal significance for me in my new role, as my father worked at the Leyland site, so it is a special feeling to have it in my portfolio as well. He would be very proud.”
Millbrook offers over 70km of testing tracks, including a high-speed circuit, the famous hill road (as seen in many legendary TV and movie chase scenes) simulating various European road conditions with a number of special surfaces. It also has expansive off-road tracks featuring all manner of obstacles to test the capabilities of the best civilian and even defence vehicles. The site is at the forefront of electrification testing and technologies, while also having dedicated facilities for connected and automated vehicles. Millbrook’s provision covers the whole range of dynamic and safety testing in transportation, including battery, emissions and noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) and specialist defence vehicle requirements. Further underscoring Millbrook’s leadership in technical applications, the site also produces more than 100 armoured and modified vehicles, per annum, from its Special Vehicles production facility.
Additionally, Leyland offers specialised tests for passenger safety and vehicle interiors as well as dynamic tests for heavy and off-highway vehicles including trucks, coaches and agricultural machinery. It also specialises in component and electronic drive unit testing.
From autonomous technology to electric powertrains, and from tyres to complete vehicle systems, UTAC’s facilities in the UK, and worldwide, allow manufacturers to meet the highest standards of safety, performance and sustainability.
