Gavin Ruddick, Chief Operating Officer of Steer Automotive Group

"I am delighted to have joined the Automotive 30% Club as a Silver Member. We have sustainably grown our business over recent years, in doing so we have welcomed some incredible businesses into Steer Automotive Group, and now employ nearly 4,000 colleagues across the country.

With the automotive repair industry having a predominantly technical workforce, this workforce is mainly male as is historically common across the sector and our whole team is committed to shaping a strong gender balance, which we know will provide the foundations for innovation and new ways of thinking."

In building an organisation to sustainably repair the vehicles of today and tomorrow, we have shaped a comprehensive people strategy where we apply a diversity and equity lens to everything that we do, and Nicola Sutherland, our People & Culture Director will be joining as the 30 by 30 Leader for Steer. Our businesses are equipped to repair the connected – autonomous – shared and electric vehicles which encompasses some of the most advanced technology we have ever seen, these vehicle technology and product enhancements make for a very exciting opportunity to foster and attract new and diverse talent to both our organisation and the automotive repair sector.

I feel it’s incumbent on senior leaders to be the change they want to create, so I am delighted to be joining the Automotive 30% Club to represent Steer. We were excited to share stories of some of Steer’s inspiring women in the recent Automotive 30% Club campaign, and I hope that my membership signals Steer’s commitment and our willingness to contribute and learn so that we can deliver meaningful change in the repair sector as well as the wider automotive industry.