Charles Hurst Group Announces Technician Recruitment Drive

Charles Hurst Group owner Lookers plc has announced the creation of 25 new in Northern Ireland as part of a recruitment drive to hire 100 new technicians across the UK and Ireland.

Lookers employs almost 7,000 staff and is one of the most successful and progressive car retailers in the UK and Ireland. The company – which employs over 900 staff in Northern Ireland – continues to invest millions of pounds in new state-of-the-art facilities across the group and in its staff.

The fresh recruitment drive to fill 100 new, permanent technician roles will offer tech-savvy and innovatively-minded applicants a rewarding career at the forefront of the motor industry with industry-leading pay, benefits and training for applicants who make the cut.

With a basic salary ranging from £26,000 to £34,000 per annum and the potential to earn up to £39,000 a year, in addition to uncapped bonus opportunities for recruits keen to excel, successful candidates can expect to further benefit from ongoing, best-in-class skills development, training and flexible working in a collaborative, team-focused environment.

Other benefits include access to health and wellbeing support and enhanced maternity and paternity allowances.

Chris Whitaker joined Lookers earlier this year as Chief People Officer with a dedicated focus on driving the company's employee programme to industry-leading standards.

Chris said: "At Lookers, we recognise that it's our people who drive our success and investing in our future skilled and graduate talent is a key priority for us. Over many years, we've focused on cultivating an inclusive, diverse work culture and transformed our employee programme to lead the sector in terms of benefits to provide a really great place to work.

"We've taken time to benchmark ourselves within the industry across a range of areas and have integrated a new, people-focused programme that really sets us apart. We've worked hard to develop new industry-leading pay plans and revised working hours based on staff feedback to reflect a better work/life balance.

"With a strong focus on health and wellbeing and driving employees forward, we're all about progression and providing career development opportunities – that's why we've revamped our training programme to incorporate additional modules, including a focus on electric vehicles to future-proof technicians for the electric vehicle revolution."

Lookers is also committed to adding a further 180 apprenticeships across its network during this year – its largest ever apprenticeship intake – as a further sign of its confidence and ambition for the future. Apprentices will join the business across a variety of roles, including parts advisors, service technicians and customer service advisors.

Lookers' apprenticeship programme is recognised nationally as one of the top apprenticeship opportunities with Centrica Top 100 Apprenticeship employer status.

Lookers' Chief Operating Officer Duncan McPhee said: "The UK motoring industry is at an exciting stage of growth and we're experiencing a welcome surge in demand for both new and used vehicles, as well as increasing enquiries for next-generation electric vehicles as a result of advancing technology and climate-friendly regulations, which are forcing a rapid change in mindset.

"The opportunities for skilled, experienced and graduate employees have never been greater and we're proud to be offering real and substantive salaries, benefits and an unrivalled friendly, supportive working environment to every new recruit. Lookers is future-focused and we want more people to join us on our journey."