Car.co.uk Wins the 2026 King's Award for Enterprise for Innovation

Car.co.uk has been awarded the 2026 King's Award for Enterprise for Innovation, the highest official business honour in the United Kingdom, personally approved by His Majesty The King. The award recognises the company's work transforming how older and end-of-life vehicles are valued, purchased, sold, and recycled across the UK.

The King's Award for Enterprise is granted annually across four categories: Innovation, International Trade, Sustainable Development, and Promoting Opportunity. The Innovation category celebrates British businesses that have built something genuinely new. Car.co.uk's recognition reflects years of investment in the platform, technology, and consumer experience that now make it the UK's most trusted online car buyer, with over 15,600 verified Trustpilot reviews.

About Car.co.uk

Car.co.uk is the consumer trading name of NEW REG Limited, founded in 1996, after trading as a ‘sole-trader business’ from 1989, and understood to be one of the first DVLA recognised resellers and the operator of NewReg.co.uk, the United Kingdom's first online number plate marketplace, launched in 1996. For over thirty-five years the business has expanded from registrations into a full suite of hassle-free car services including scrapping, valuations, insurance, and finance. The company has remained self-funded and debt-free throughout that journey.

Founder

Steven T Jackson OBE is the founder and Person of Significant Control of New Reg Limited and Car.co.uk. Steven was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to employment and community, by Letters Patent issued at the Court of Saint James's on 29 December 2012 and signed by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He served the County of Lancashire as a Deputy Lieutenant from 2016 until 2025, commissioned by The Right Honourable The Lord Shuttleworth KG KCVO. The University of Central Lancashire conferred upon him an Honorary Fellowship in 2011 in recognition of his outstanding achievements.

He is also the founder of Recycling Lives, the UK's most decorated social enterprise and the winner of four Queen's Awards for Enterprise across Sustainable Development, International Trade, and Promoting Opportunity. EY named him UK Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019, and he represented the United Kingdom at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year final in Monaco in 2020. The 2026 King's Award is the fifth Royal honour conferred on businesses Steven has founded.

A Long-Standing Leadership Team

Steven has worked closely with William T Fletcher MBE and Anthony Sharkey for more than a decade, entrusting them to help build and deliver the businesses and the vision behind them. That continuity, first at Recycling Lives and now at Car.co.uk, is at the heart of the team's track record of Royal recognition.

• William T Fletcher MBE, Chief Executive Officer. William served as CEO of Recycling Lives under Steven's chairmanship, where his leadership was central to the four Queen's Awards the company received. He was appointed MBE in recognition of that work. William now leads the executive team at Car.co.uk, where the platform has scaled to its current market position.
• Anthony Sharkey, Chief Operating Officer. Anthony has been part of the same trusted leadership group for more than a decade and oversees the operational engine of Car.co.uk: the logistics, dismantling, recycling, and trade partnerships that allow the business to handle vehicles at national scale. 

A Track Record of Royal Recognition

The 2026 King's Award is the fifth Royal honour conferred on businesses Steven Jackson OBE has founded, delivered alongside the leadership team he has trusted for over a decade:

• 2010 — Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development (Recycling Lives)
• 2014 — Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development (Recycling Lives)
• 2018 — Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade (Recycling Lives)
• 2019 — Queen's Award for Enterprise: Promoting Opportunity through Social Mobility (Recycling Lives)
• 2026 — King's Award for Enterprise: Innovation (Car.co.uk)

Recycling Lives also featured twice in the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 (2018 and 2019), and Car.co.uk was named in the Sunday Times 100 in 2025.

Acknowledgements

The award reflects the work of the entire Car.co.uk team and the partners who make the platform possible. Our thanks go to:

• The team at Car.co.uk for years of hard work, considered decisions, and turning up every day.
• Our industry partners — the garages, dismantlers, recyclers, hauliers, and traders who keep vehicles moving through the network.
• Our customers, over 15,600 of whom have left verified Trustpilot reviews, making Car.co.uk the UK's most trusted online car buyer. 

Steven T Jackson OBE, Founder:

"Building a King's Award winner takes thirty-five years and a team you genuinely trust. William, Anthony, and I have worked together for more than a decade across Recycling Lives and now Car.co.uk, and I've entrusted them to help build and deliver every part of this. The award belongs to all of them, and to everyone they lead."

William T Fletcher MBE, Chief Executive Officer:

"Working with Steve gave me the opportunity to lead Recycling Lives, and now New Reg and Car.co.uk. The discipline he built into both businesses, self-funded, debt-free, and customer-first, is what wins awards like this one. None of it happens without the trust we have in each other and in our team."

Anthony Sharkey, Chief Operating Officer:

"Recognition for innovation, in our world, comes from the operational detail behind every transaction. It's a privilege to be part of a leadership group that William and Steve have trusted for this long, and to deliver on what we set out to build."