Sytner Group celebrates 14th anniversary of Leicester Pride

The day saw over 65 colleagues march in the vibrant parade across the city centre in a sea of colour.

The business chose to support Leicester Pride from 2021 to 2023 as it’s home to Sytner Group’s Head Office as well as a number of dealerships and colleagues.

We also had a stand at the event where colleagues could talk to those attending about the business, careers and our diversity and inclusion policies.

We were raising money for local charity, Trade, on the day. Trade is a Leicester charity and has been working in the community since the later 1980s and works to support the health needs of the wider LGBTQ+ community.

Over the last 12 months, the charity has supported over 1,200 individuals with information, advice, support and access to services. We raised a fantastic £489.64 for the charity during Leicester Pride.

Simon Harrison, Senior Service Advisor at Sytner BMW Nottingham and Leicester Pride Event Manager, said: “It was great to see Sytner Group at Leicester’s biggest Pride for its 50th anniversary this year. It’s great to have the business involved and supporting the community in this way.”

On the stand, we treated those attending to face painting, glitter painting and a number of branded goodies as well as hosting a competition – guess how many balloons are in the MINI, with the winner receiving an iPad and AirPods.

All colleagues working on the stand and marching with us fully embraced the atmosphere, wearing fancy dress, singing along to the brilliant live acts and, of course, plenty of fun and laughter.

Jodie Williams, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Sytner Group, said: “I was so proud to see so many colleagues, family and friends at Leicester Pride this year. The atmosphere was fantastic and now it’s growing we’re able to educate more people and embrace more initiatives like this one.

“We are continuing to build a strong working culture that embraces the communities in which we belong to and are part of. Our involvement in Leicester Pride is just one of the ways we’re supporting underrepresented groups, as we ultimately want to learn from them to help us shape our business going forward.

“I’m looking forward to the future where we are working with more organisations and programmes, like some of the great partnerships established this year, in order to create a more inclusive workplace for our colleagues.”

Sytner Group has recently created a range of different initiatives for colleagues to feel seen and heard at work including network groups, where our colleagues can get together and discuss important issues and ideas in the workplace.

The network groups that colleagues can get involved in include: gender, ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability, the shared shelf and a communications and engagement working group.

We are proud to develop colleagues’ understanding and environments so that all members of the team can thrive and contribute their best selves to work.