We’re celebrating International Women’s Day 2023, an annual global event that highlights the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.
Copart has created a culture that welcomes equality and diversity and encourages personal development. We support our people in growing their skills, knowledge, and experience to maximise their potential within our business, and career progression opportunities are available for all teammates, regardless of their gender.
At Copart, we support and encourage gender balance within the automotive industry and we’re proud to have strong female representation across all areas of our business, including our senior management team.
International Women’s Day 2023 is a perfect opportunity to shine a light on just a few of the amazing women at Copart who are #drivingsuccess within our business…
Paula Varley – Director of Insurance & Customer Services
I joined Copart and started my journey in the Customer Support Centre and 30 years on I can honestly say it’s been an amazing ride.
I have a passion for customer service, and I was promoted to Customer Services Manager, leading a team of 25, before moving into Business Implementation.This was a natural progression having built up extensive operational knowledge, which leant itself to the onboarding of new customers and managing controlled process change across the business. I was supported by the business all the way which was a big part of me progressing my career.
This then led to me moving into the Account Management side of the business and into my current role as Director of Insurance & Customer Services. During my career I have worked with many amazing and strong women and have taken a lot of learnings from them. #thankyou !
Over the years I’ve seen the embracing of diversity and inclusion with an increasing number of women joining the industry. I hope the long and successful career I have had within the automotive industry is seen as a positive example to others and inspires anyone to seek progression.
Hina Khan – Finance Director
My journey at Copart so far has been interesting, challenging, rewarding and fun.
It’s a progressive organisation with a great business model built on innovation and drive (somewhat literally)! Copart has a unique culture where your role is really what you make of it. There’s lots of opportunities with very little red tape. For the first time in my career, I’ve had the chance to venture into managing more than just finance, making each day much more exciting.
We celebrate all our successes, and our people and our teams are motivated and engaged with everyone sharing the same goals. Our managers role model all our values and promote a fun, positive and open environment to work in. When you join Copart, you really are joining a family, the Copart family!
Rhiannon White – Dual Site Assistant General Manager
I joined Copart as the Office Manager of Rochford in 2019, and recently I have been promoted to the role of Dual Site Assistant General Manager, covering both our Rochford and Colchester sites.
Copart have been exceptional for me in terms of the support they have offered with both training and support as well as professional development and progression. As a modern and inclusive company to work for, I am personally proud of our collective efforts towards Carbon Neutrality as a company, and the positive promotion of Carbon Literacy across all teammates.
In terms of my personal development, this has been a wonderfully enjoyable journey so far. I consider myself lucky to have a company who have supported me on not only a personal level via encouragement and feedback, but via courses I have needed to gain that all-important knowledge to ensure my success in the business and increase my greater understanding of the industry.
The automotive industry was once considered to be a male dominated environment, however, through Copart’s drive to achieve equality for all its teammates, you naturally gain a greater sense and understanding in all areas of our business that this is simply no longer the case.
Natasha Hensman – General Manager
After starting as an office temp at Copart Sandwich, the company encouraged my progression and despite falling pregnant I was encouraged to apply for an Office Manager role only 18 months later. They asked me to interview for the role with no pre-conceptions or prejudice and offered me the job.
My line managers have supported my career progression, recognising my skill set and guiding me through the progression to Assistant General Manager and then General Manager, giving me encouragement and guidance all the way and making me feel valued.
Copart nurtured me to maximise my full potential and supported me, not because I was a woman and young mother, but because I was an equal and valued part of the Copart family.
I have been allowed to grow, flourish, and reach where I am today with respect and were it not for this and the support and nurturing, I would not be where I am today.
Lucy Giscombe – Project & Implementation Manager
I have been at Copart for just over 10 years now and in that time the business has had a huge amount of growth. I came to work for Copart as an Account Executive under a temp to perm contract. I quickly became a permanent member of the team and never looked back!
As the team grew and my experience and skills grew alongside this, I was promoted to Account Executive Manager responsible for the Account Executive team and supporting the National Account Managers as well as the Sales Director.
From there a natural progression then saw me in my current role as Project and Implementation Manager, utilising my knowledge and experience of process and systems. We used to manage a few projects every month, we are now managing hundreds. We continually challenge what we do across the business and keep on improving.
We are, and always have been, a very close and supportive team. My manager has always been very supportive in my career progression, providing me with guidance and mentoring throughout my time at Copart, and continues to do so.
Aisha Hussain – Account Executive Manager
I joined Copart in 2019 as an Account Executive in the Insurance Sales Team, and after a year of being in the team an opportunity arose to apply for a team leader role. I now manage the team of Account Executives and Sales Support Executives, and get to meet our customers and build strong relationships as well as have daily interactions with most teams across the business.
Copart have recently rolled out management training courses across the business, which I have had the pleasure of attending. Courses and conferences like this are one of many that Copart organise to ensure we all continue to be invested in business goals and true to our Copart Values.
We have more apprenticeships and programmes for our teammates now more than ever. There is literally something for everyone and plenty of opportunities to develop and progress your career within Copart.
It makes me extremely happy to see us as a business have so many empowering women across our teams!
#InternationalWomensDay
#EmbraceEquity
#CopartCares💙
Interested in a career at Copart? Visit Copart.co.uk/jobs.