Awards and recognition
Who stands behind Garage.co.uk
Recognised by the King's Award and the Sunday Times 100, and run by people you can name
Before you let a website point you at a garage, you should know who runs it. Garage.co.uk is a trading name of Car Operations Limited, a Unison Automotive company. Its parent has traded under its own name since 1996. This page sets out what the company, its founder and his earlier business have been recognised for, with a link to the evidence every time.
The directory lists about 23,000 UK garages. It costs you nothing to use and costs a garage nothing to be listed. We take no commission and no booking fee, and no garage can pay to sit higher in the results.
The company
Company awards
Unison Automotive Limited, called New Reg Limited until 21 October 2026, is the holding company behind Garage.co.uk, Car.co.uk, NewReg.co.uk and Trader.co.uk. The same company and the same senior team run the garage directory.
King's Award for Enterprise: Innovation
2026Won by our parent company, then New Reg Limited and now Unison Automotive Limited, for the technology that runs Car.co.uk. In the Gazette's words: “AI-driven system, automating the identification and pricing of vehicles, providing seamless integrated holistic customer experience.” Announced on 6 May 2026.
Sunday Times 100
2025Car.co.uk placed 74th in the league table of Britain's fastest-growing private companies, on sales of £22.7 million and growth of 71.5 per cent over three years.
Sunday Times 100
2026Car.co.uk returned a year later at number 85, and 12th among North West companies, with £26.6 million of sales up to the end of November 2025. Lancashire Business View reported the result on 5 June 2026.
The people
The people who run it
Awards go to companies, but people earn them. These are the three names most drivers will want to check.
William Fletcher MBE
Chief Executive, Unison Automotive LimitedChief Executive since December 2022, and the man in charge for both Sunday Times 100 places. Appointed MBE in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to disadvantaged communities.
Anthony Sharkey
Chief Operating Officer, Unison Automotive LimitedA director since March 2021, he runs the group day to day. He met His Majesty King Charles III as part of the 2026 King's Award.
Steven T. Jackson OBE
Founder, Unison Automotive LimitedStarted trading personalised registrations in Preston in 1989. He has led the development of Garage.co.uk himself since 2025.
The founder
Honours held by Steven T. Jackson OBE
Personal honours and recognition, each listed with the public record that confirms it.
OBE
2013 New Year HonoursOfficer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to employment and the community in Lancashire. The Princess Royal carried out the investiture at Buckingham Palace on 12 March 2013.
The London Gazette, issue 60367, page N11 · letsrecycle.com report
EY Entrepreneur of the Year
2019Overall United Kingdom winner, and on the same night winner of the Societal Impact category.
EY World Entrepreneur of the Year
2020Chosen to represent the United Kingdom. The final moved online that year because of COVID-19.
Honorary Fellow, University of Central Lancashire
6 December 2011Conferred by the Vice-Chancellor, Malcolm McVicar.
Entrepreneur of the Year, BIBAs
2010The Be Inspired Business Awards are the North & Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce's annual awards for the county's businesses. Steven took the entrepreneur title in 2010.
BIBAs winners history · Lancashire Business View: the winners
Entrepreneur of the Year, Growing Business Awards
2015Named entrepreneur of the year at the 2015 Growing Business Awards.
Buckingham Palace reception
19 July 2010Steven met Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at the reception for winners of the Queen's Awards for Enterprise, held in the year Recycling Lives won its first.
Recycling Lives
The Queen's Awards won by Recycling Lives
Steven's earlier business was Recycling Lives, a Preston recycling company whose profits supported a charity getting people into work, among them people coming out of prison. The awards below were the company's, earned by the people who ran it, and they came while he was its founder and chairman. William Fletcher, now our Chief Executive, sat on its management team for the awards of 2014, 2018 and 2019.
Steven owned every share when the first three were won. Three Hills Capital Partners took 21 per cent in 2018, so his stake was about 79 per cent by the time of the 2019 award. He left the business in 2020. Administration followed in 2024, four years on, under the management put in place once he had gone.
Sustainable Development
2014William Fletcher was part of the management team.
International Trade
2018Presented by the Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire on 25 July 2018.
Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility)
2019One of six winners in the category that year.
The charity carries on under a new name. On 5 June 2026 the Recycling Lives charity became Onward Lives, a rebrand Steven led personally at the trustees' request. Unison Automotive Limited continues to support Onward Lives as part of its social impact. The charity tells its own story on its heritage page.
An award does not vouch for a single garage
What it does show is that a named, long-standing company runs this directory. Check the garage itself as well: look at its details, ask for a quote and agree the price with the garage before any work starts.
Garage.co.uk is a trading name of Car Operations Limited, registered in England number 15693826. Its parent company is Unison Automotive Limited, registered in England number 03143909. Registered office of both: 5 Parkgate, 117 Liverpool Road, Longton, Preston, PR4 5AA.