Bicester Motion

Based on the site of a former RAF airbase, Bicester Motion is a unique hub for specialist automotive businesses. Founded in 2013, Bicester Motion has gone from a standing start to a home for 50 such businesses and growing, with a collective turnover of over £50m, making it the largest player in the industry and set to grow exponentially with a global reach.

The 444-acre site is home to independents like engineering specialists and exhaust fabricators, plus classic car dealerships and restorers, bespoke parts manufacturers, a gin distillery, and well-known names in the motoring industry such as Polestar, industry bodies and plenty more besides. It is also home to the Sauber Motorsport Technology Centre as it moves forward with its Audi F1 transformation.

The former RAF Bicester site on which Bicester Motion is now based is of national historic importance. Neglected for the best part of 40 years, it was added to Historic England’s ‘At Risk Register’ in 2008 and designated the most ‘at risk’ of all Defence Estates in the UK.

Since Bicester Motion’s tenure, over 95 per cent of the buildings have been delicately restored or re-activated for modern business use, with the site now held as a national exemplar of constructive conservation by Historic England. The time-warp base is truly unmatched in evocative character and an active airfield and test track complete its dynamic operation.

With a busy calendar of events, Bicester Motion, less than an hour from London, opens its doors to the public several times a year with its hugely popular Scramble.