CARE Award winners - Marek, Alex & Neil

The Unipart CARE Awards showcased what behaving with CARE means at Unipart, and highlighted the very best examples of our colleagues living our values and delivering for our customers, communities, and each other.

Each week, we are sharing the inspiring stories of our award recipients, highlighting their remarkable contributions and dedication.

Today, we're spotlighting Marek Curilla, Alex Grama, and Neil Pinnell from Cowley DC, who won the 'Respectful Ways of Working' CARE Award.

The award recognises those in Unipart who genuinely have a positive impact on our colleagues, environment, and the communities in which we operate, highlighting not just what colleagues have done, but the way in which they do it: showing genuine kindness, compassion and empathy for those around them.

The colleagues nominated in this award category all demonstrated how they go out of their way to support others and give back.

Marek Curilla, Alex Grama, and Neil Pinnell from Cowley DC were awarded the Respectful Ways of Working Award for the care they showed to a colleague in need that had potentially life saving consequences.

They were nominated by Developing General Manager Paul Steptoe. In his nomination video, Paul tells the story of the events that unfolded one ordinary Monday and how the team went out of their way to make the biggest difference imaginable to one family.

"It was really nice to be at the CARE awards and hear all the amazing finalist stories, which to me truly demonstrated that in Unipart we really do have people who care.

“I was delighted to be able to bring my partner along to the event. Maria works on the BMW VZ3 contract in Cowley, and despite working in a completely different area she also noticed that our colleague had not arrived for work and encouraged me to investigate further, so really the award is hers as well! It just demonstrates once again that we have a team who really do care and look out for each other.

“I still can’t believe that we won the first ever Respectful Ways of Working Award. I’ve been stopped and congratulated a lot by colleagues from right across the DC since the event, and it's something that makes me very proud of our whole team at Cowley.”

Marek Curilla, Team Leader

“I am truly honored and surprised to be nominated for such a prestigious event, let alone to be part of the team winning the very first Respectful Ways of Working award. What we did is something I believe anyone in our position would have done, to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of our team members.

“As leaders, we have a responsibility to care for and understand our people, as their support is essential in achieving our shared vision. Thanks to individuals like Marek, who deeply understands his team, he was able to raise concerns at the right moment. This allowed us to escalate the issue appropriately, take a proactive approach, and ensure the necessary support was provided.

“This recognition is not just for us, but for everyone who values and prioritises the safety and wellbeing of their colleagues.”

Alex Grama, Operations Manager

“Fundamentally Alex and Marek did what exceptional leaders do and that is to look out for their community and raise something that is not right in the correct manner. Collaboratively we managed to ensure that a vulnerable member of the team was looked after, and prevent something much worse potentially occuring.

“This award exemplifies everything that Unipart does right as a business: celebrating our colleagues who go the extra mile and promoting a culture of caring and wellbeing. I am honoured to be part of this celebration.”

Neil Pinnell, Health & Safety Manager

Read more about the event here and look out for more stories from our CARE Award winners over the coming weeks.