Awards and recognition
Who stands behind the stories you read here
You should be able to check who publishes a news site, and what they have done before. This page names the company behind Promo.co.uk, the recognition it has earned, and the record of the man who founded it. Every entry links to a public source, so you do not have to take our word for any of it.
Who publishes Promo
Promo.co.uk is a trading name of Car Operations Limited (company number 15693826), a Unison Automotive company. Its parent, Unison Automotive Limited (03143909), was incorporated as New Reg Limited on 5 January 1996 and changed its name on 21 October 2026. The same group runs Car.co.uk, NewReg.co.uk, Garage.co.uk and Fuel.co.uk.
The awards below are not why you should trust a story. The checks are. Each article must be confirmed by an official source, or corroborated by several independent ones, before it goes live. Our methodology sets out those checks, and our corrections page records what we have put right. What the awards do show is who is accountable for those checks, and that their record can be looked up.
The company
The company holds the highest official honour a British business can receive, and has been named two years running among the fastest growing private companies in the country, both under chief executive William Fletcher MBE.
2026
King’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation
Announced on 6 May 2026 and received by the company, then New Reg Limited and now Unison Automotive Limited, for the system that runs Car.co.uk. The Gazette lists it as NEWREG Ltd, Lancashire. Anthony Sharkey, our chief operating officer, met His Majesty King Charles III in connection with the award.
2026
Sunday Times 100, second year running
Car.co.uk placed 85th in the Sunday Times list of Britain’s fastest growing private companies, and 12th in the North West, on sales of £26.6 million in the year to the end of November 2025.
2025
Sunday Times 100, first entry
Car.co.uk entered the list at 74th, on sales of £22.7 million and three year sales growth of 71.5 per cent.
“AI-driven system, automating the identification and pricing of vehicles, providing seamless integrated holistic customer experience.”
The founder
Steven T. Jackson OBE began trading personalised registrations from Preston in 1989 and is the founder, majority shareholder and person of significant control of Unison Automotive Limited. These honours are his own.
2013
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Appointed in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to employment and the community in Lancashire, and invested at Buckingham Palace by The Princess Royal on 12 March 2013.
The London Gazette, issue 60367, page N11letsrecycle.com report
2019
EY Entrepreneur of the Year
Overall United Kingdom winner of EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019, and winner of its Societal Impact category. Both were awarded on the same day.
2020
EY World Entrepreneur of the Year
Represented the United Kingdom in the world final, which was planned for Monaco and moved online because of COVID-19.
2011
Honorary Fellow, University of Central Lancashire
Conferred on 6 December 2011.
2015
Entrepreneur of the Year, Growing Business Awards
He was crowned Entrepreneur of the Year at the Growing Business Awards in 2015.
2010
Entrepreneur of the Year, BIBAs
The Be Inspired Business Awards, known as the BIBAs, are run by the North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce. He took their Entrepreneur of the Year title in 2010.
The BIBAs winners historyLancashire Business View winners list
2010
Reception at Buckingham Palace
On 19 July 2010 he met Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, at the reception for that year’s winners of the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise.
Four Queen’s Awards, won by Recycling Lives
Before the motoring group took its present shape, Steven founded Recycling Lives in Preston: a recycling business that funded a charity helping people, including former prisoners, into work. These four awards belong to that company and to the people who ran it.
| Year | Category | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Sustainable Development | Gazette issue 59397, page S4 |
| 2014 | Sustainable Development | Gazette issue 60844, page S7 |
| 2018 | International Trade | Gazette issue 62263, page S8 |
| 2019 | Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility) | Gazette issue 62621, page S10 |
William Fletcher MBE, now our chief executive, was part of its management for the 2014, 2018 and 2019 awards. Steven was the sole shareholder at the time of the first three. For the 2019 award he held about 79 per cent, after Three Hills Capital Partners bought a 21 per cent stake in 2018. All four were won while he was its founder and chairman.
He left Recycling Lives in 2020. The company entered administration in 2024, four years later, under the management appointed after his departure.
The charity did not close with it. On 5 June 2026 it took a new name, Onward Lives, and Steven personally led that rebrand at the trustees' request. Its heritage page sets out where it came from. Unison Automotive Limited continues to support Onward Lives as part of its social impact.
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We hold this page to the same standard as our news. If a date, a figure or a source here is wrong, tell us through our corrections page and we will fix it in the open.
Read more about Promo.co.uk, meet the team, or see Car.co.uk, the business behind the King’s Award.