Winners 2025

Talent 2025

Shani Roberts has devoted more than 20 years to the global vehicle testing company, progressing from calibration administrator to her current role as business partner in 2023. Her expertise in talent development has been instrumental in delivering training solutions through the company’s skills business and partnership with the MIRA Technology Institute. Between 2023 and 2024, she secured more than £130,000 in funding to create innovative multi-company skills festivals and work experience programmes that reached more than 1300 participants, including 400 from disadvantaged backgrounds. These initiatives transformed traditional work experience by allowing young people to spend time across several companies rather than just one. Despite internal resistance to non-traditional business streams, Roberts' persistence and stakeholder education resulted in a 29% increase in skills sales within a year. Her line manager praised her "can-do attitude", which has helped train 17,000 automotive personnel since the MIRA Technology Institute was launched in 2018.

Talent 2025 nominees

Grace Ford, BMW Group

Grace Ford achieved notable success in 2024, including spearheading Motorrad deal management training, with 91% completion, and driving the Tableau project to enhance efficiency and data visualisation. She joined BMW in 2013, progressing from overheads cost controller to operational finance manager before moving to her current role in 2017. With a 2:1 in PR and marketing and a CIMA accounting qualification, she brings financial acumen to her training leadership role. "Grace had been incredible in supporting Motorrad and has been absolutely fantastic," noted Nick Cranmer, head of aftersales for BMW Motorrad UK and Ireland. He added that her leadership of the Inspiro team and collaboration with NSC subject matter experts have “revolutionised” training development across multiple business areas.

Bronwyn Hardie, Ineos Automotive

Bronwyn Hardie joined Ineos Automotive in 2021 after progressive HR roles at Kyowa Kirin Pharmaceuticals, Adelie Foods and Automotive Management Services in Dubai. Based at the company’s global HQ in London, Hardie serves as the strategic liaison between HR and the wider global business across multiple markets, including the UK, France, Germany, Austria, China and the US. Her achievements include mapping 17 different countries’ processes to create a shared HR service within 12 months and developing a full learning and development training platform from scratch. "Work smarter, not harder" is her team motto, reflecting her process-driven approach to system integration.

Georgia Hope, Kia UK

The rapid rise of Georgia Hope through Kia UK's HR department in just four years demonstrates her exceptional skills in strategy and people development. Starting with no prior HR experience, she progressed from HR officer to senior business partner by consistently delivering value beyond expectations. Under her stewardship, the Women in Leadership development programme resulted in 43% of training days being taken by women and directly contributed to female promotions within the company. Hope also spearheaded Kia UK's mentoring programme, connecting senior management with junior staff in a structured format that received excellent feedback from participants. Her director, Gemma Benbow, praised Georgia as "a dependable business partner with a steadfast commitment to people development, inclusion and strategic HR decision-making.”

Holly Nicholls, Renault UK

Holly Nicholls has flourished at Renault UK since joining as a digital marketing communications assistant during her university placement. After graduating with a first-class business management degree, she progressed through the sales and marketing graduate scheme before becoming network training and development manager. Her innovative approach to training has transformed dealer performance, particularly in electric vehicle knowledge, where she implemented comprehensive education initiatives that increased customer satisfaction scores from 78.2 to 94.4 in just five months. Nicholls also created the Manager Mindset course to address high staff turnover, focusing on developing leadership skills across the network. Managing six model launches in 12 months while achieving five-star satisfaction ratings, Nicholls has displayed creativity in her work, as illustrated by introducing VR technology and a training app that became Renault's global solution. Her line manager praised her "positivity and can-do attitude", which have achieved "the highest network satisfaction ratings ever."