Ricardo’s Joanna Rowe named as one of Autocar’s Great Women: Rising Stars 2021

Joanna has been recognised in the prestigious annual top 100 which celebrates the up-and-coming stars of the British automotive industry.

As a stunning endorsement of Ricardo’s world-class expertise in niche volume manufacturing and response to the global pandemic, Joanna Rowe, Operations Manager for the company’s Performance Products Division, has been named as one of the Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars in the annual awards run by Autocar in association with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Since joining Ricardo five years ago, Jo has played the lead role in introducing to the production facility at Ricardo’s Shoreham Technical Centre in the UK the brand new engine launched in the McLaren Artura supercar. She leads a diverse team of 50 people operating over two shifts to produce 100 supercar engines per week to the hugely demanding quality standards required of a very high-performance product for McLaren.

Recently promoted to Operations Manager, Jo’s recognition as a Rising Star in the manufacturing category, is a great testament not only to her production delivery expertise but also to how she has consistently had to take the initiative to meet the enormous challenges of the most demanding of manufacturing environments during the global pandemic. She has led her team through very significant change, including the repeated reconfiguration of the business, in a way that exudes both control of the situation but also empathy with their concerns. This has resulted in Ricardo emerging with a great team in place, feeling secure in their workplace and in their future, working for Jo.

Dave Shemmans, CEO of Ricardo plc said: “We are absolutely delighted that Jo has been recognised as one of the Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars for 2021. The recognition is very well deserved and is a testament to the industry-leading manufacturing expertise that Jo offers day in, day out to world-renowned Ricardo customers. Jo exemplifies the Ricardo core value of Respect which, with such a diverse global community, has always been an integral part of our company, and is at the heart of high performance teams and business, enabling us to celebrate differences. We have a special business, a special team and a special family around the world, and my objective is for Ricardo to lead the way as a ‘good good’ employer as well as through technology and innovation.”

Jo’s recognition has been a source of particular pride for her manager Jason March, Ricardo’s Director - Powertrain Systems and McLaren Programmes. Jason said: “It is tremendous that Jo’s passion and commitment to a career in manufacturing has been recognised by the Autocar Rising Star Panel. This coincides with Jo’s promotion to Operations Manager at our High Performance Engine Assembly facility, and her colleagues and expanded team will all join me in congratulating Jo for this well-deserved double success.”

Summing up what it means to her to have been included in this prestigious ‘who’s who’ of the automotive industry, Jo said: “I am honoured to have been named in the Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars. I’m passionate about my work and driven by the desire to be better, so for me, enabling an environment and culture where a team can truly achieve operational excellence is a key career goal.”

“I’d also really like to make a visible impact with my career. Since day one, when I was presented with a Director panel, I wanted to see someone like me among them. Diversity in our sector has increased since then, but there’s still work to do. I’d be proud if a future young engineer saw me on that panel and were to be inspired by my achievements.”

See the full list of Autocar's Great Women: Rising Stars 2021

Learn more about this project here.