Winners 2026

Sharon Ashcroft has led HR at this Ford-owned dealer group since 2013, having joined in 2005 as human resources manager. To give a sense of the scale of her task, TrustFord operates more than 60 dealerships and 14 parts sites in the UK and its employees total nearly 3000. The majority are happy too. According to employment survey company Great Place to Work, 78% of employees at TrustFord say it is a great place to work, compared with 54% of employees at a typical UK-based company. Ashcroft also sits on the member board of trustees for automotive industry charity Ben.

Lisa Rowles heads up the HR functions of the UK-based Japanese-owned automotive testing facility, where she has worked for the past 25 years. Since 2024, she has also served as the global HR strategy leader for Horiba, spanning 50 companies in 29 countries. She joined the firm in 1995 from a recruitment consultant and has risen through the ranks, including heading up security for the company’s facility and global HR functions. In 2013, Rowles launched the MIRA Academy for training and sits on the board for the MIRA Technology Institute. As part of that, she chairs the AIRTO (Association for Innovation, Research and Technology Organisations) HR Interest Group, a UK cross-industry group of HR professionals in the innovation, research and technology sector. She also set up the Horiba MIRA People Awards.

Rachael Edwards is Mercedes-Benz’s HR representative at board level in the UK, a job she has held since 2015. She was hired by the company in 2009 from Woolworths, which she had joined out of university and where she rose to divisional HR manager. Edwards graduated from the University of Derby in 2002 with a degree in human resources management.

Sian Hall oversees the needs of more than 5000 staff at the UK arm of US dealer group Lithia & Driveway, which bought out Pendragon in 2024 and now has around 160 dealer outlets branded as either Evans Halshaw or Stratstone. Hall started working at Pendragon in 2016 as head of resourcing and talent after moving from the Morrisons supermarket group and was promoted to talent director. She was elevated to her current role soon after the Lithia acquisition. Her first job was HR administrator for Rocco Forte hotels in 2003.

Clare Booth has been responsible for HR at the Volkswagen Group in the UK since 2025 after moving from the UK arm of Volkswagen-owned truck maker Scania, where she served as director of people for five years. She took over the role from Penny Weatherup, a former finalist in the Autocar Great Women awards. Booth made her mark in the automotive industry first at Mercedes-Benz in the UK, which she joined in 2011 from BT, starting in the Mercedes-Benz financial services division before moving to cars. She left as head of reward and people services in 2020.