Auto Trader UK Reviews

Pros

From a developer's point of view, this has to be one of the best web companies to work for in the North of England, and probably nationally. They have excellent, cutting edge tech (early adopters of cloud and containerisation), truly Agile practices, and pretty boundless ambition. The business is strong too, but one of the real cultural strengths is that they are very reflective, very aware of their weaknesses and vulnerabilities and move fast to remove them. The culture is all-pervasive and mostly very positive. The atmosphere is overwhelmingly friendly, and from the top down it is a company run by, and for, real people. I really enjoyed my time here.

Cons

The location (central Manchester) wasn't right for me, but of course that will not be a problem for everyone. The car industry is facing some structural headwinds which may hit them in the future but so far they seem immune. At the moment they are riding high, but there are some potentially very serious competitors out there.

Advice to Management

Stay uncomplacent.

Pros

people, product and work conditions

Cons

not rewarded for hard work

Advice to Management

focus on developing the staff you have

Pros

- Amazing opportunity to learn - Colleagues are all there to help - Location - CV boost Autotrader pride themselves on being investors in people - and this is broadly true. You come in on a decent salary, for the role you accept, and get to work learning the ropes and settling in. Once you are settled in, your responsibilities grow and things are going nicely. You have regular 1-2-1's and your manager makes all the correct moves to make you feel valued and that your career is progressing. Go here for a year or two and learn as much as you can – then when you’re ready for an increase in salary, leave and go anywhere else.

Cons

The majority of the cons here stem from a poor management culture and pay scale. The problem here, is when you've outgrown the role you have and you're ready to move to a more senior position/role, your career stops progressing. This is where the cult of Autotrader comes to the fore. You’re made to feel as though you should be grateful to work for them and that this in of itself is a reward. In my experience there was a culture of top down ingratitude at AT that really affected people’s mental health - in my team, in a year, 7 long-term members of staff went off with stress/poor mental health due to the increased workload (a catch 22 with people leaving/going off with stress) and the inability of the management to understand that people wish to progress in a role and, heaven forbid, make more money at the same time for all the extra work they’re doing. Of those 7, I believe only 1 is still there and they've been placed in another role as they were integral to the infrastructure/working of the team. Essentially, they knew too much to be allowed to leave. The rest were, not so much forced out, but made to feel as though they didn’t matter and that the team was moving on from them. They were now ‘bad influences’ you’d hear from other people’s meetings or 1-2-1s (talking about these was discouraged, unsurprisingly). AT will bang on about ‘Mental Wellness’ and ‘Mental First Aiders’, the problem being these aiders are generally the established middle managers that are causing a lot of the grief in the first place. Additionally, the pay at AT is at a ridiculous deficit for the next internal role you go for - if, indeed you actually get said role. Most people that work here are fantastic at their job - AT are great at attracting talent - but they are, predominantly, underpaid when bench-marked against the market (anecdotally) and stuck in roles they’ve outgrown – or are expected to perform in an extended role without renumeration or the benefits of a title bump (“We’re a flat structure!”). Without going into grubby specifics, I earned a 6% increase in 3 years - despite my role changing dramatically, to that of someone on 20% more when benchmarked. This is, again anecdotally, common across the board - I still know people on dramatically less than in other companies doing significantly less work. Couple this with a management culture that is absolutely defined by favouritism and it's no wonder many people leave/go off with stress. I eventually left, taking with me the skills I had honed there to a company that paid me what I should have been on for the work I do. Wanting more money isn't something that should frowned upon - it's the only reason most of us go to work. Wanting to be supported when things start getting difficult and you’re not the managers favourite, is also a pretty standard – especially for a company that prides themselves of being ‘Investors in People’.

Advice to Management

Stop the favoritism. Understand wanting more money isn't a thing to ostracize people over.

Pros

Company culture is great and some of the best people I have worked with! The people that work here really do live and breathe values and the values are integral to everything we do. There is complete trust which gives you full autonomy to just get on with what you do best, the company has a flat structure and there is no micro management. The company is really forward thinking and always willing to test new things which means we are always one step ahead and constantly innovating.

Cons

Working environment is really fast paced which some people might see as a negative thing but one of the things that I enjoy the most which means no two days are the same which is great!

Pros

Fantastic forward thinking company that thrives on change and allows staff to have a voice. Culture is massively important to the company and leadership team making it a great place to work with an amazing office space.

Cons

None, great place to work

Advice to Management

Keep on doing what you are doing and never be afraid of change

Pros

Amazing culture that is authentic to the business and people within in, not about awards or external recognition The technology and data capability is really impressive and growing fast, a great place to be Focus on continuous learning and reflecting when things don't go as well as they should

Cons

The business wants to run faster than the industry it operates in, driving change is hard work The flat organisation structure and level of change can mean it is hard to keep up

Advice to Management

Stay humble and don't be complacent

Pros

Exciting projects fast paced great culture & atmosphere majority of the people are friendly cutting edge tech inclusive groups lots of various activities office is great!

Cons

sly tech owner in buying experience feeling undervalued even though you always go the extra mile. if you're not liked by tech owner/director then no chance of staying, you will get pushed out.

Advice to Management

You're doing a fantastic job with the company, heading in the right direction

Pros

Free fruit. Great people. Funky offices. Good location.

Cons

Management do not live up to the values. But expect everyone else to. Fire good people based on favoritism. People get pushed out and asked to sign agreements to leave and sign to keep quiet (that's why you don't see more bad reviews as people are scared to write them). I was there for just over 2 years and saw as many people bullied out as left themselves.

Advice to Management

practice what you preach. You expect staff to live up to the values, but then do not live up to them yourselves. People don't know where they stand on a daily basis as management are not honest or treat staff well.