www.aftermarketonline.net MARCH 2025 On the Road 55 Growing together means listening, understanding customers’ needs and delivering the best service would be interesting to see a snapshot of sales and performance figures in the aftermath of the conference. It’s also easy to understand why Kevan Wooden, chief executive of LKQ UK and Ireland and group motivator-in-chief, is a Ramm fan. Chatting to Wooden on the side lines of the event, he stressed his commitment to increasing customer connectivity and outstanding service through one engaged team — delivering market-leading profitable growth across the aftermarket. Each of the four businesses within the LKQ UK and Ireland group — LKQ Euro Car Parts, LKQ Bodyshop, LKQ Leisure and Marine and LKQ Digraph — is the leader in its respective market, Wooden said. The group-wide conference focussed on supporting customers through unrivalled service and best-in-class product ranges, to deliver first time, on time, every time — while supporting colleagues by recognising their success and cultivating an engaged and supportive culture. In his own keynote speech, Wooden said the conference’s ‘Growing Together’ theme underlined the importance of nurturing every stronger links and sharing insights for the year ahead. “With our industry-leading logistics capabilities and the best team in the business, we’re making it easier than ever to trade with us. ‘Growing Together’ means listening to our customers, understanding their needs, and delivering the best service.” Wooden said each of the trading brands plays a crucial role in expanding the size, capability, expertise and market influence of the group as a whole. “Our winning formula of combining our culture and values with our plan to invest in our proposition and streamline the way we work will see us continue to deliver market-leading profitable growth as one engaged team.” This is especially important as the group has entered 2025 with a new operating structure, which Wooden said brings LKQ closer to our customers and allows colleagues to “play to their strengths”. Andy Southby, chief commercial officer for LKQ UK and Ireland, recapped the key milestones of the past year and gave branch managers and teams a glimpse of what’s in store for 2025. Donna Fearnley, group HR director at LKQ UK and Ireland, highlighted the business’ peoplefirst approach, including the group’s annual engagement surveys and ‘people adding value everywhere’ (PAVE) internal taskforce, which is responsible for the firm’s internship and apprenticeship programmes, as well as its community and charity work. The conference came hot on the heels of LKQ unveiling its “evolution” plans, at the start of the year, which it said will see an increase by a third of customer-facing account manager positions. The move underpins the firm’s aim of providing even more frequent face-toface contact and expert guidance in solving customers’ business challenges and facilitating growth. In addition to the expansion of its account management teams, LKQ is introducing dedicated operational roles to further strengthen its market dominance.
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