As sponsors of Nottingham Pride 2025, we joined one of the UK’s most prominent LGBTQ+ events to celebrate community, visibility and belonging.
Our Lithia UK Pride-wrapped BMW and branded banner were proudly on display, acting as visible symbols of our continued commitment to equity and inclusion. Colleagues from across the business attended, not only to represent Lithia UK but to be part of something meaningful, a show of solidarity, pride and progress.
“As a member of the LGBTQ+ community and Co-Chair of our Network, it meant a lot to me to see our business not just sponsoring Pride but actively taking part. It’s moments like this that really matter, when visibility becomes action.” Ruby Stafford, Customer Executive and LGBTQ+ Network Co-Chair
Our presence at Pride is part of a wider journey. Through our LGBTQ+ Colleague Network, we’ll continue championing for visibility, respect, and belonging across the business. We’re proud to foster a workplace where every voice is welcome and every identity is respected.
We are proud to announce the launch of our first LGBTQ+ network.
Our network offers our people the opportunity to unite as one in championing and celebrating respect, inclusivity and supporting each other to do the right thing.
We are grateful to the CarStore Chesterfield dealership who recently hosted our launch event, as we livestreamed a panel discussion across the Group - from head office to dealership teams and technicians!
We are so proud of our amazing Co-chairs, Kieran and Lucy, and Senior Sponsor Lizzie (Chief People Officer), as they discussed the importance of being your true self at work, shared their plans, hopes and aspirations for the network and answered questions posted by our Associates.
Now that it has officially launched, the roadshow celebrations begin!
We are proud to introduce Lithia UK’s Gender Equality Network, of which Kim Costello, our Chief Marketing Officer, is the Senior Sponsor. Along with co-chairs, Claire (Retail Sales Leader, Stratstone Wakefield) and Emily (People Consultant, People Function), the team are looking forward to shining a greater light on gender diversity throughout the automotive industry.
Kim says, "Rarely do we see parity of representation across roles in businesses, especially in leadership positions. This needs to change. It doesn’t stop with employee retention; increased diversity also translates to the bottom line. Companies with higher rates of both gender and racial diversity are 29 per cent more likely to have increased profitability. We are here to support this.
“At Lithia UK, we want to drive beyond the possible. This means we need to breakdown the gender stereotypes and raise awareness of the benefits that gender equality provides, no matter how you identify.
“We will create opportunities for our Associates to get involved and engage in discussions around everyday life and the milestones that many of us face, such as maternity and paternity support or the specific gender related issues in relation to health, and mental health.
“We need to unite as one to drive progressive change that benefits all, regardless of gender."
We are thrilled to announce that Lithia UK has been recognised with the 800 Award from Reputation.com, the global leading provider of reputation experience management solutions and an industry indicator of customer satisfaction.
This award recognises businesses that prioritise customer experience and is measured using various factors such as review sentiment, volume, recency, response, and more. Businesses that receive this award have achieved a score of 800 or higher, indicating their focus on high customer satisfaction throughout the past year.
40 of our Evans Halshaw, Stratstone, and CarStore locations were honoured with this prestigious award, demonstrating a commitment to our customers that has seen us take the number two spot on the ‘best of the best’ list for the UK. These 40 locations consistently collect, understand, and act on customer feedback to make data-driven decisions that improve the customer journey.
Our dealership network is supported centrally by our expert Reputation Management team. This team of specialists not only deal with the more complex customer experience concerns; but also analyse the reputation data from across the business before making personalised focus-area recommendations for each store, in turn helping them to continuously improve.
Commenting on this award, Chief Customer Officer Kim Costello said:
“We are incredibly proud to have received the 800 Award from Reputation.com for our exceptional customer satisfaction. This recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our Associates across all our Evans Halshaw, Stratstone, and CarStore locations.
“I want to extend my sincerest gratitude to each and every one of our dealership-based Associates for putting the customer at the heart of everything you do. Please keep up the fantastic work, and let's continue to set the gold standard for customer-centric businesses. Together, we can achieve even greater success for our customers and earn this award year after year."
From a love of cars to a career in the making, Lilly’s journey as a Vehicle Technician Apprentice at Evans Halshaw shows what’s possible when passion meets opportunity. Through her apprenticeship with Lithia UK, she’s developing in-demand skills, earning recognised qualifications, and making a real difference to our customers every day.
In this video, Lilly shares why she chose the apprenticeship route, the milestones she’s most proud of, and what life in the workshop is really like. Her story is proof that with the right support and determination, you can turn your ambitions into an exciting and rewarding career in the automotive industry.
Click here to learn more about our early careers opportunities
Earlier this year, Lithia UK PLC introduced a new Technician Accelerator programme, which was designed to give dealerships the opportunity to welcome a newly-qualified or semi-skilled technician into an aftersales team to jump start their career with the company.
Are you looking for your next step in the Technician world? We'd love to hear from you!
Fundraising is a big part of Lithia UK and our associates love getting involved in charity events to raise valuable funds for local and national causes!
Here are some of our most recent fundraising events:
At Evans Halshaw, we represent numerous automotive brands throughout nationwide locations. We’ve driven the industry forwards with innovative ideas, and we’re proud to work with many of the UK’s most exciting manufacturers, offering you the chance to get your teeth stuck into everything automotive.
Whether it’s customer service, sales, aftersales, technicians, leadership, accounting, administration or facilities that fuels your motivation, our people love working here for lots of reasons, but one outshines the rest – no one stands still with us. Recognition and investment in our people form the basis of our success – discover just how far your career can take you!
A career with Stratstone gives you the unrivalled opportunity to get up close and personal with the types of vehicles many people can only dream about. Having provided high quality cars and services in the unique Stratstone style since 1921, we’re passionate about providing every single customer who walks into our showrooms with an unrivalled, personal and exceptional service.
In one of our numerous retailers across the UK, you’ll play a key part in taking our prestigious brands to the next step, and in return, you’ll be supported at every step of your career journey.
Whether it is customer service, sales, aftersales, technicians, leadership, accounting, administration or facilities that you’re looking to progress within, no one stands still with us - start your Stratstone story.
Donington Park's lap record was recently broken at an exclusive track day held by Porsche Sutton Coldfield.
Attending on the day was the JCR Developments team who enjoyed some valuable track time and networking during the day. The Sutton Coldfield team and Porsche GB also allowed JCR a special slot over the lunch break to attempt to break the lap record for a road legal car in their GT2RS MR in its Neptune Blue paintwork. The current fastest lap time stood at 1:34.29.
The fine weather was on the team's side and with an empty track they set off on the hunt of a new record. It didn't take long as their second flying lap beat the current fastest lap time by 1.42 seconds and secured a new road car lap record of 1:32.71.
JCR believe there is an even better lap time in the GT2RS with a more track-focused set up but as this car is driven to every event, road compliance is as important to them as ultimate lap times.
Driver, Jonny Cocker, said: "We're running the car with very mild camber settings so there's plenty of pace in the pocket in case we need to find some more speed in the future!
He continued: "It was a great day had by all. Thank you to Porsche Sutton Coldfield for a fantastic day and the opportunity to demonstrate what the JCR GT2RS MR is capable of!"