Škoda UK press office announcement: Tim Pollard joins as Head of PR & Communications - NOT FOR PUBLICATION

NOT FOR PUBLICATION 

• Škoda UK strengthens PR team ahead of range expansion
• Tim Pollard appointed as new Škoda Head of PR & Communications
• Charlotte Moss to return in Q1 2027 as Lifestyle and Corporate Communications Manager
• Jane Halsey appointed PR Manager

Milton Keynes, 15 September 2026: The Škoda UK press office is delighted to announce that Tim Pollard is set to join the team as Head of PR & Communications. Tim will take up his new role on 5 October 2026, succeeding Pietro Panarisi, who is joining Volkswagen UK as Head of PR & Communications after an incredible 11 years at the helm of Škoda UK PR.

Tim joins the team following an award-winning career in automotive journalism, with roles at Car, What Car?, Autocar and Parkers, before moving into senior leadership at Bauer Media, where he led more than 120 journalists and content creators across the digital business at Britain’s biggest magazine publisher. He is also a former Chair of the British Society of Magazine Editors.

Tim’s arrival coincides with a number of other key changes to the press team line-up. Charlotte Moss is set to return from maternity leave in Q1 next year, when she will take up a newly created role within the department as Lifestyle and Corporate Communications Manager.

We’re also very pleased to confirm that Jane Halsey will become a permanent member of the Škoda UK press team as PR Manager, having provided maternity cover for Charlotte since the start of the year. Jane will continue to lead the brand’s product PR activity and play a key role in delivering Škoda’s busy programme of media launches and communications.

Hannah Sholl will remain in her role as Events and Internal Communications Manager, masterminding the brand’s innovative approach to launches and events, while Clare Pleasants continues her sterling work as Press Fleet Manager, ensuring the brand’s award-winning model range gets into the hands of media across the UK.

The newly expanded team is set to navigate one of the busiest periods in Škoda’s history with the new Epiq and Peaq set to double the size of the brand’s all-electric range early next year. 2027 will also see the arrival of a number of key model updates which will confirm Škoda’s status as one of the most innovative and exciting automotive brands.

Ends

Škoda Auto

• is successfully steering through the new decade with the Next Level Škoda Strategy;
• aims to become one of the top three best-selling brands in Europe by the end of the decade by offering its customers the best of both worlds through a range of attractive BEV, hybrid & ICE products;
• effectively exploits the potential in important growth markets such as India, Vietnam and the ASEAN region;
• currently offers customers 13 passenger car model ranges: Fabia, Scala, Octavia, Superb, Kamiq, Karoq, Kodiaq, Epiq, Elroq, Enyaq, Slavia, Kylaq and Kushaq;
• delivered more than 1,040,000 vehicles to customers worldwide in 2025;
• has been part of the Volkswagen Group, one of the world's most successful car manufacturers, for more than 30 years;
• is part of Brand Group CORE, an organisational merger of the Volkswagen Group's volume brands, with the aim of achieving joint growth and significantly increasing the overall efficiency of all five volume brands;
• independently develops and produces components such as MEB battery systems, engines and transmissions for other Volkswagen Group brands;
• operates three production plants in the Czech Republic; has production capacities in Spain, Slovakia, Kazakhstan and India, mostly through group partnerships, as well as in Vietnam and Ukraine in cooperation with a local partner;
• employs around 40,000 people worldwide and is active in almost 100 markets.

20260910MA