Winners 2026

Manufacturing 2026

Wendy Graham oversees Ford’s Dagenham engine assembly facility in east London, which builds around a million diesel engines a year, mainly for the company’s Transit range of vans. She was promoted to the role in 2024, following three years as assistant manager at the plant and, before that, overseeing Ford of Europe’s drive to cut manufacturing costs. In 2019, she wrote the manufacturing strategy for all Ford engines globally up to 3.0 litres in size, a senior role that reflects her impressive rise through manufacturing after joining Ford as a graduate engineer in 1995. She holds a joint honours degree in mechanical and manufacturing engineering and Japanese from Cardiff University.

Manufacturing 2026 nominees

Sarah Stevenson, JLR

Sarah Stevenson’s senior role at JLR is to oversee everything to ensure the smooth running of production for the company’s flagship SUV models, the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, including procurement, supply chain and manufacturing. She was promoted to the role in 2023 after serving as manufacturing programme director. Stevenson has worked at JLR for almost 26 years, joining in 2000 as project engineer from automotive supplier Valeo Security Systems. She holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Coventry University.

Sara Ridley, Autocraft Solutions Group

Sara Ridley is responsible for engineering at the Grantham-based remanufacturing business, a role she started in 2022 after initially moving to the company in 2019. Prior to that, she worked at automotive supplier Mahle Powertrain, starting from 2013, where she became head of manufacturing engineering and quality for its four UK sites. Ridley began in remanufacturing when she was at Caterpillar rebuilding engines, working in engineering and operations at sites across Europe. She has a first-class bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Northampton and was awarded an industrial fellowship for her doctoral research from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.

Claire Curtis, Nissan

Claire Curtis became production control director at Nissan’s sole European plant, in Sunderland, in 2024. She started her career at the facility in north-east England, joining as a production control graduate in 2001 before moving through the ranks of production planning and control, which focuses on how to better build cars in sequence and also track vehicle flow during production. After six promotions, rising to production control manager, she secured this senior spot and reports to plant head Adam Pennick, making her one of the most senior members of staff at the assembly facility.

Nicola Stoker, Nissan

Nicola Stoker was promoted to the role of overseeing the supply of parts to Nissan’s Sunderland factory in 2024 after moving from her previous role of director for cost control at the plant. There, she was responsible for the costings for new models to be built, including the Qashqai, Leaf and Juke, and reported to the head of Nissan manufacturing in the UK. Prior to this, Stoker’s job was to oversee the costs involved in building the last-generation Micra in France. Early in 2020, Stoker was general manager for Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance logistics, leading a team of more than 700 people across seven locations. She joined Nissan at the Sunderland plant in 1998 as a graduate controller in the parts team before working her way up into the Alliance logistics team in 2009.

Claire Else, JLR

Claire Else’s senior post hands her responsibility for launching all new propulsion, software and vehicle programmes. She secured the position in 2023 after serving as global purchasing and supplier quality director, focusing on electrified drivetrains, a role she moved to in 2021. Before that, she led a global team of more than 60 people responsible for transforming JLR’s supply chain and she reported to the global purchasing director. That followed a spell as head of strategy for JLR’s supply chain, starting in 2020. Else has spent much of her career within purchasing for the firm, which she joined in 1988 as a Jaguar trainee.

Loretta Dittrich, JLR

Loretta Dittrich is responsible for creating and overseeing JLR's logistics and supply chain strategy globally, including equipment and material-handling automation at all JLR plants. She was promoted to her current role in 2023 after impressing for her work in material and logistics planning for JLR’s centre for batteries, where she helped automate the process. She joined JLR in 2019 from German exhaust specialist Eberspächer, where she was a senior manager in supply chain management. Her work in logistics began with Bosch in 2005, where she started as an intern.

Judith Richardson, JLR

Judith Richardson’s senior role is to improve the quality of JLR’s supply chain relations. She secured this position following recognition of her work in her previous role as supply chain transformation director, which involved helping to manage the end-to-end supply chain for all commodities. She was promoted to that position in June 2021 after joining JLR in 2018 to become global supply chain director responsible for propulsion systems for electric and electrified cars. Richardson previously spent 14 years at Nissan, rising to head of purchasing for Nissan Europe after joining the Japanese firm at its Sunderland plant in 2004. She is also a member of the Automotive Council as one of the voices of the UK car industry, helping to balance their needs with those of the UK government.

Charlotte Benson, Aston Martin

Charlotte Benson’s current role is to align the sports car maker’s purchasing strategy in terms of cost, risk and sustainability targets, and she reports to head of procurement Giorgio Lasagni. Benson moved to this position in 2024 after overseeing purchasing, focusing on engines, chassis and all parts brought over as part of Aston’s relationship with Mercedes-Benz. She joined Aston as senior purchasing manager in 2021 before being promoted in 2023. Before that, Benson worked at Nissan, where she started her career as a graduate buyer in 2003 in Sunderland. She steadily rose through the ranks of purchasing at the Japanese manufacturer, giving her experience of joint procurement of parts with Renault and Mitsubishi at a global level.

Louise Reynolds, Aston Martin

Louise Reynolds became procurement director in 2023 and reports to Aston Martin chief procurement officer Giorgio Lasagni. She previously worked for JLR as vehicle line director for electrical architecture, driver assistance and propulsion systems. Before that, she was global purchasing director for electrical parts at JLR, leading a team of 80. She joined JLR in 2013 as purchasing manager, sourcing interior parts, having moved from construction firm Balfour Beatty, which she had joined after leaving Tata Steel, her employer for 11 years, following her graduation from Durham University in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in physics.

Carol Jeffrie, Nissan AMIEO

Carol Jeffrie’s role at Nissan is to oversee all purchasing of all supplies external to the car itself within the region that includes Europe, Africa and the Middle East. She reports directly to Saravanan Meyyappan, head of purchasing for the region. Prior to that, she was responsible for purchasing the same range of services within the UK, a role she started in 2021. That arose after she impressed in a position overseeing performance reporting of Nissan Europe’s purchasing team, when she was based in Cranfield, Bedfordshire. Her 23 years at Nissan started at the Sunderland plant as a graduate controller in the purchasing team.