Sara Sloman of Paythru & EV Café announced as Barbara Cox Woman of the Year
The Barbara Cox Woman of the Year 2023 is Sara Sloman, Chief Strategy Officer at EV fintech business Paythru and Director of The EV Café.
Sloman received the award at a special ‘Women with Drive’ event organised by Cox Automotive Europe to celebrate International Women’s Day.
Sara was one of six women shortlisted from over 50 entries by a judging panel, which included previous winners Caroline Burnell and Lorna McAtear.
Kate Ruberry-Shoemack, Head of People & Communication at Rygor Commercials and Erin Baker, Editorial Director at Auto Trader were also presented a Highly Commended award.
Also shortlisted for the award were: Mariam Aslam-Digger, Commercial Director at Rhino Group; Kate Howdon, Head of HR for eStar Truck & Van; and Dal Dosanjh, Head of Marketing Communications at epyx.
Announcing the winner, Martin Forbes, President – Cox Automotive International, said: “We received so many strong nominations for this year’s Barbara Cox Woman of the Year award, choosing just one winner was always going to be an incredibly difficult job for our panel. But their duty was to do exactly that, and Sara is very deserving of this accolade.
“She is someone who has become a hugely well respected individual in our industry. She is described as having endless drive, enthusiasm and tenacity for improving our industry, and she does this by sharing her knowledge and own experiences. Throughout her career she has given her time to mentor women in our industry. Having experienced gender bias and discrimination during her career, she understands exactly what other women may be facing on their own journeys and has worked hard to influence and change policy and improve things for women in automotive.
“Her work in the sustainable transport and energy sector is truly inspiring, as is her drive to leave a legacy where we see strong leadership from all age groups with recognised diversity and accessibility. She’s overcome personal adversity too. Having recovered from an aggressive blood cancer, she now takes on extreme physcial challenges with the target of raising £5,000 a year for charity. Sara is a phenomonal person and I am honoured to have been able to present her award today.”
Commenting on her win, Sara said: “I’m overwhelmed to have won this award and promise here and now to pay it forwards and use the profile this brings to continue to embrace equity for women in the automotive sector. To be a part of this process has been inspiring. While on one hand it’s been about celebrating individuals, on the other, it’s been about collaboration and recognising the opportunity we have. It’s given us all an opportunity to take stock of what we’ve achieved and to create new connections. The six finalists have today pledged to work together and push forward as a group and I can’t wait to see what comes next!”
