Steven Terence Jackson OBE

Entrepreneur, Software Developer, Social Enterprise Founder and Founder of New Reg Limited

Entrepreneur, software developer and social enterprise founder. More than four decades across the UK metals, automotive and internet industries since 1979. Founder of New Reg Limited, Garage.co.uk and Car.co.uk. OBE 2013.

Credentials

Director, then Chief Executive Officer, Preston North End Football Club PLC; with a consortium of co-investors took controlling ownership to restructure the listed club following the collapse of Football League broadcast revenue (2002 to 2006)
Queen's Award for Enterprise, Sustainable Development (Recycling Lives) (2010) verify
Honorary Fellow, University of Central Lancashire (2011) verify
Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE), for services to employment and the community in Lancashire (2013) verify
Queen's Award for Enterprise, second award (Recycling Lives) (2014) verify
Queen's Award for Enterprise, Promoting Opportunity (Recycling Lives) (2016) verify
Queen's Award for Enterprise, fourth award (Recycling Lives) (2019) verify
EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year, Overall Winner (2019) verify
Appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire (DL) (2019)
Represented the United Kingdom at EY World Entrepreneur of the Year (2020) verify
Resigned as Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire (2025)
King's Award for Enterprise (Innovation category), awarded to Car.co.uk operated by New Reg Limited (2026) verify
Led the Recycling Lives charity rebrand to Onward Lives, on behalf of the Chairman and Board of Trustees (2026) verify

Biography

Steven Terence Jackson OBE was born in Preston, Lancashire in 1966. He began his working life in the family scrap metal business in 1979, the start of a career that now spans more than four decades across the UK metals, automotive and internet industries. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s he developed specialist expertise in personalised registration marks, trading privately before building it into a national business.

In 1995 he founded UK Internet Provider Limited, trading as Provider.co.uk, one of the United Kingdom's early commercial internet service providers. It was a business of its era and no longer trades today. In 1996 he founded Domains.co.uk and incorporated New Reg Limited (Companies House 03143909). New Reg became one of the earliest businesses in the country to sell personalised registrations online, and remains the parent of today's New Reg group of motoring brands, including NewReg.co.uk, Car.co.uk, Trader.co.uk and Garage.co.uk.

In 1999 he founded Preston Recycling Limited, the commercial business that later evolved into Recycling Lives. In 2006 he established the Recycling Lives charity, conceiving a distinctive social enterprise model in which a commercial recycling business operates alongside an independent charity with matching aims, funding the charity's work directly. Over the following years Recycling Lives grew into one of the United Kingdom's most recognised social enterprise models, combining commercial recycling, offender rehabilitation, homelessness support, food redistribution and employment programmes. The business received four Queen's Awards for Enterprise, in 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2019.

Between 2002 and 2006 he served on the board of Preston North End Football Club PLC, and was its Chief Executive Officer during that period. With a consortium of co-investors he acquired controlling ownership of the listed club and helped restructure it following the collapse of Football League broadcast revenue.

He was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours, for services to employment and the community in Lancashire. He is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Central Lancashire, appointed in 2011. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire in 2019 and resigned the appointment in 2025. In 2019 he was named EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year, Overall Winner, and in 2020 represented the United Kingdom at EY World Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2026 Car.co.uk, operated by New Reg Limited, received the King's Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category.

In 2026, following the separation of the charity from the original Recycling Lives commercial brand, the Chairman and Board of Trustees asked Steven to assist with the charity rebrand. He personally led the rebrand on behalf of the Chairman and Board, and the Recycling Lives charity successfully became Onward Lives. Onward Lives continues the charity's work in rehabilitation, homelessness support, employment and community programmes.

Steven is the founder of Garage.co.uk and the lead developer of its codebase. He works with a senior team at New Reg Limited including William Fletcher MBE (Chief Executive Officer), Anthony Sharkey (Chief Operating Officer), Tim Elleray (Strategic Advisor), Liam Derbyshire (Search Engine Optimisation, Marketing and Web Developer, Group), Jonathan Taylor (Software Engineer, NewReg.co.uk) and Rebecca Wilson (Administration Director). The achievements described on this page belong to the businesses and the many colleagues involved over the years, not to Steven alone.

Areas of expertise

Automotive technology
Personalised registration marks
Vehicle valuation and data
Digital marketplaces
Software development
Artificial intelligence applications
Recycling and circular economy systems
Social enterprise
Employment and rehabilitation programmes
Charity strategy and rebranding
Business restructuring

Businesses and organisations

Verified profiles and records

The senior team

Steven leads engineering on Garage.co.uk personally, and works with a senior team at New Reg Limited: William Fletcher MBE (Chief Executive Officer), Anthony Sharkey (Chief Operating Officer), Tim Elleray (Strategic Advisor), Liam Derbyshire (Search Engine Optimisation, Marketing, and Web Developer (Group)), Jonathan Taylor (Software Engineer, NewReg.co.uk), and Rebecca Wilson (Administration Director). The achievements listed on this page belong to the businesses, not to Steven alone, and reflect the work of long-standing colleagues over decades.

Meet the full leadership team

Media enquiries

Steven is available for press comment on UK automotive industry topics including MOT regulations, the cost of car maintenance, finding trustworthy garages, the UK motor trade, and the UK metals and recycling industries.

Contact the team at Garage.co.uk