Sytner Group Celebrates Leicester Pride's 15th Anniversary!

Sytner Group celebrates 15^th anniversary of Leicester Pride

The day saw over 90 colleagues march in the vibrant parade across the city centre in a sea of colour.

Sytner Group have chosen to support Leicester Pride for last few years, as its home to our Head Office as well as a number of dealerships and colleagues.

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

As well as see some of the prestige cars we have on offer, on the day we had five cars lined up representing a number of our luxurious brands!

We were also 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.

Jack Jones, MINI Business Manager and Chair of the LGBTQ+ Network Group, said: “This year’s Leicester Pride event stands out as the highlight of our social calendar within the Q&A Network Group and our various network groups. It’s a special time when we all come together to demonstrate unwavering support for our colleagues, friends, and customers. Our stand this year was a vibrant spectacle, showcasing an impressive array of specialist vehicles for everyone to admire and engage with. We also featured a 360-degree camera on display, allowing members of the public and colleagues to partake in personalized video shoots.  He continued, LGBTQ+ is like glitter, once it becomes part of our lives, work environment it’s there to stay. In alignment with our groups Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, I’m passionately advocating to ensure that all our employees feel empowered to be their authentic selves and secure in doing so. I’d also like to extend my personal gratitude to everyone who attended this year’s Leicester Pride. For those colleagues who couldn’t make it, there are still plenty of ways to get involved. I strongly encourage you to explore the colleague hub and our D&I page or alternatively, reach out to myself or Jodie Williams.”

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!

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.

Paul Hudspith, Head of Central HR and Recruitment at Sytner Group, said: “At Sytner, we celebrate and are passionate about diversity and inclusion. We are proud of our Head Office being based in Leicester - Which is one of the most diverse cities in the UK. It is amazing to be a primary sponsor of Leicester pride for the 3rd year in a row.

Diversity and inclusion is key to our business success which is reflected in our values. We are committed to ensure this is embedded in everything we do, from recruitment, training and our customer journey.

Moving the venue to Abbey Park has taken the event to the next level and we are incredibly proud of the efforts from the Sytner team to put on a first class exhibit. It is great to see a larger crowd enjoying the atmosphere in this great Leicestershire sunshine”

Penny Wallace, Central Recruitment Manager at Sytner Group said: “This was my third year representing Sytner at Leicester Pride and it was bigger and better than ever. We had a record number of colleagues from Leicester and beyond attend to show their support, proving that all of the work we are doing internally to raise awareness and educate is having an impact. The atmosphere was fantastic as always, it was an incredible day and one I always enjoy being a part of!”

Sytner Group have 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.