We are committed to reducing the carbon footprint of all our operations

Environmental, Social &
Corporate Governance

Over the last three decades our company has adopted a number of measures, and processes designed to help our business have a positive impact on our employees, the environment and the communities in which we operate. As a leading provider of mobility services in Europe, we are proud of our exemplary track record in successfully building a business that is committed to a fair, transparent and sustainable approach for all stakeholders, which in the long run enables us to increase the value of our company.

AURES Holdings plays an essential role in the circular economy, providing sustainable solutions for the used car industry. Our role is two-fold and we are constantly working to optimise our impact and efficiency in both areas. Firstly, we re-sell pre-owned cars and this often requires us to replace old or unsuitable car parts. This way we help to extend the product life of a vehicle, reducing waste caused by the automotive industry. Our second focus area is on older vehicles, as older cars emit more tailpipe emissions. Therefore, to address this we have committed to decreasing the emissions from our sold fleet by reducing the number of old cars sold by Aures.

ENVIRONMENT

GHG emissions and e-mobility

AURES Holdings has based its sustainability strategy on principles that are directly relevant to our industrial focus. As an automotive retailer our most likely impact on the environment involves GHG emissions and resource consumption.

We have committed ourselves to reducing GHG emissions from our own operations in line with the Paris Agreement and to become carbon-neutral by 2025.

Emissions generated by transport in Europe are still on the rise. The average age of a vehicle in the region in which we operate is 14.5 years and older cars contribute higher CO2 emissions. We are passionate about reducing emissions from the fleet of cars sold and we know this is of great importance to our customers too. (Scope 3 downstream GHG emissions).

We have identified a number of ways we as a pre-owned car retailer can contribute to decreasing the emissions released by the cars we sell, these include:

• providing information to our customers about the average emissions produced by each car sold in the region, as well as providing a transparent disclosure of the environmental parameters of the vehicle we are selling. Moreover, we will decrease the carbon footprint of tailpipe emissions from our cars by 40% by 2025, versus 2018 levels.
• growing the share of electric cars and hybrid vehicles in our product portfolio as well as helping to develop the charging infrastructure across our network by equipping all our branches with an EV charging station by 2025.
• extending our ability to offer nearly new cars to a greater audience by expanding our network and customer reach through new locations and the development of our existing capacity. This will also be aided by connecting our new Western Europe locations as sourcing platforms for younger more CO2- friendly vehicles. We have committed to investing in and opening 15 new locations and to increase our existing capacity by 25% by 2025.

Resources

Across our own operations, due attention should be paid to the use of resources, most importantly regarding the consumption of water and the volume of waste generated. We aim to reduce our total water consumption per car sold by 20% by 2030 and to increase the rate of recycled waste per car sold by 10% before 2025.

SOCIAL

AURES Holdings employs almost 3,000 people in 5 countries, who most importantly share the same vision, values and mission. In the last 30 years, we have developed a strong internal culture. Almost 200 people have been with the company for more than 15 years, including those in the most senior roles. Our employees are an essential part of our success.

We offer multiple development programmes and training courses uniquely tailored to each employees’ needs and career level to best help them to develop and grow with the company.

Diversity and inclusion

As a multinational company operating in 5 countries across the European Union, our team as a whole is composed of individuals from a multitude of different countries and demographics. This diversity is truly important to us, as it equips us with the ability to communicate with our customers in the local language and allows us to learn and share invaluable insight into local markets and customer behaviour.

Equal opportunities

Given our international nature, AURES Holdings places huge emphasis on promoting equal opportunities regardless of gender, age, religion, nationality, disability, race and sexual orientation. Under our compliance codex and other internal policies, our employees must refrain from engaging in discriminatory behaviour of any kind. Treating every employee with the same respect is a requirement. Our internal policies give examples of direct and indirect discrimination, and they define which personal characteristics are protected by law. Strictly prohibited behaviour includes bullying, sexual harassment, stalking, defamation and hate speech, none of which will not be tolerated by the company.

Health & Safety

We are committed to doing everything possible to protect our employees from accidents and occupational hazards. Our standard approach to occupational health and safety is set out in our internal policies.

Responsible product & services

We commit ourselves to being as clear and transparent about all our vehicles and services as we can be, to most effectively provide our customers with fair, reliable and accurate information.

GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS

Management board

Karolína Topolová

co-Chief Executive Officer & Chairperson of Board of Directors

Karolína Topolová has been the Company's Chief Executive Officer since 2012 and the Chairperson of its Board of Directors since 2015. She began her career as an Assistant Program Manager at the Hilton Diamond Club (HDC). She later became the HDC Program Manager of a telemarketing sales team, in charge of selected VIP clients of the Hilton hotel network, at the Prague Hilton Atrium hotel.

In 1998, she established the Group's call center, which has grown from five employees to a professional team of more than 200. She held the position of call center head from 1998 to 2006. From 2006 to 2007, she served in the positions of Group HR head and call center director. From 2009 to 2012, she held various positions including Deputy CEO and COO, while she was also head of the sales, financial and insurance services, call center, human resources, IT and external communication divisions.

She has repeatedly been ranked in the TOP 25 WOMEN OF CZECH BUSINESS, in 2020 she won the 1st place in the managers category and in 2021 she entered the Hall of Fame. Karolina also regularly appears in the list of the Most Influential Women in the Czech Republic according to Forbes magazine and received the Lady Pro 2015 and Young Management Talent 2015 awards.

Petr Vaněček

co-Chief Executive Officer

Petr Vaněček is a passionate automotive retail executive and became Co-CEO of the company in 2024. His responsibilities include executive management of the company and the business, Mototechna Group (mobility solutions for private customers and small and medium-sized companies), digitalization, innovation, IT, data management and branch network development. His task is to continue the geographical expansion of the company with a focus on the development on the Polish market. Since 2015 he has also been a member of its Board of Directors.

He has extensive experience across the full spectrum of the Company’s operations. Petr has held several management positions in various divisions, including in the Group’s buying division covering exports and imports gaining invaluable international retail experience and a deep understanding of the European pre-owned car market. During his time in the Group’s buying division, Petr was responsible for driving Aures’ cross border arbitrage business and was appointed as Director of Procurement in 2006 where he developed the sourcing infrastructure and established the Group’s pricing function sourced from sector experts and industry analysts. In 2014 he was appointed as Group Chief Operating Officer.

Since then Petr has played a pivotal role in establishing the Group’s data source division, seamlessly integrating this essential service across all of the Group’s operating divisions and played a major role in the Group’s entry into the nearly new car market through the creation of premium segment brand Mototechna.

He has transformed the organisation into a technology led operation in every aspect across the Group and played a major role in supporting Aures’ fantastic growth.

Marko Lehtonen

Group Chief Financial Officer

Marko Lehtonen has served as the Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Directors since May 2024. He oversees the Company's overall financial management. His career began in the retail and technology sectors across various European countries. In 2013, he embarked on his automotive career as the Chief Financial Officer of Inchcape Nordics business unit. He has also held the position of Chief Financial Officer in publicly listed companies, most recently at Kamux Oyj from 2019 to 2024, one of Europe's leading used car retailers.

Marko brings extensive experience across various value drivers of the automotive business, having held numerous financial and general management positions in different European countries. He holds a Master's degree in Economics and Business Administration and is a CEFA holder.

Martin Hrudník

Chief Operations Officer

Martin Hrudník has held the position of the Chief Operations Officer since 2024. He is responsible for determining the Company's buying strategy and related marketing activities . In addition, he also leads new projects supporting the Group's expansion. He began his career working in the construction industry and joined the Group in 1999. He started as a buying assistant and in 2004 became a regional buying manager. He has worked in different branches in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In 2017 he became Group Purchasing Director. He graduated from the Mechanical Engineering High School.

Our Management Board is responsible for making business decisions at the holding level.

Supervisory board

Stephen Neil Hopewell

Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Stephen Neil Hopewell has been a member of the Supervisory Board since 2016. From 1987 to 1991, Stephen was General Manager of Pendragon Plc and was involved in its initial public offering in 1989. From 1991 to 2002, he held the position of Operations Director of Pendragon Plc. From 2002 until today, Stephen has been the owner and manager of the UK's Lindop Brothers Toyota dealership chain owning three Toyota and one Honda dealership. From 2007 to 2016, he held the position of the Head of global consulting division at ASE Global PLC. He holds a Bachelor degree in Economics / Agricultural Economics from Nottingham University.

Anthony James Denny

Supervisory Board Member

Anthony founded AAA Auto group of companies in 1992, serving as CEO from 1992-97 and 2006-2012. He has been a member of the Supervisory Board since 2015 and a member of the Management Board between 1992-2015. He has over 40 years experience in retailing new and used cars including more than30 years experience in the cross border trade of used cars around the globe.

Wojciech Adam Lukawski

Supervisory Board Member

Wojciech Adam Lukawski has been a member of the Supervisory Board since 2015. He has 14 years of private equity experience, predominantly in Poland focussing on consumer finance, automotive and infrastructure sectors. Previously he was on the management board of two mass privatization funds in Poland, overseeing the restructuring and disposal of over 120 former state-owned companies. Prior to this, Wojciech was Finance Director of companies in the construction and textile industries. Wojciech also spent a number of years working in a mergers & acquisitions advisory and holds a Master’s degree from Lodz University.

Stephen John Richmond

Supervisory Board Member

Stephen John Richmond joined the Supervisory Board of the Company in 2021 and has more than 20 years of private equity experience in CE and is a Partner and Chief Financial Officer of Abris Capital Partners. Prior to Abris, Steve was a Partner at Copernicus Capital where he was responsible for the firm’s office and investment activities, initially in Zagreb and subsequently in Belgrade and Warsaw. Before joining Copernicus, Steve held senior management positions with two PE-backed UK companies. Steve has a degree in Zoology from the University of Leeds, UK.

Lenka Zajíčková

Supervisory Board Member

Lenka Zajíčková has been a member of the Supervisory Board since 2020, serving as the Group Head of Legal since 2014 and Compliance Officer since 2020. Lenka is overseeing the Company's entire legal agenda. She has been working in advocacy since 2001, attorney-at-law since 2006 and has been working alongside the Company since 2010. In 2015, she was a member of the team and the main coordinator of the post-transaction corporate restructuring that followed the acquisition of AAA Auto Group N.V. by the Company and the subsequent cross-border merger of AAA Auto Group N.V. and AAA AUTO a.s. into the Group. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of Masaryk University in Brno.

Martina Kahulová

Supervisory Board Member

Martina Kahulová has been a member of the Board since November 2023. She joined the company in 1999, when her first position was in HR as an assistant. After a year and a half, she worked her way up to Head of the Personnel Department. She left the company in 2010 to gain new experience and returned to the group in 2013. Since then, she has been working as the head of the payroll and personnel department in the position of Group Personnel and Payroll Manager.

AURES is governed by a comprehensive set of corporate rules, policies, laws and processes that define our current corporate governance model and guide our long-term vision as a business.

Our commitment to business ethics is overseen by our Management Board through both the ESG Committee and the Compliance Officer to ensure the proper integration of ethical behaviour across all our business units, geographies and operations. Through our Code of Ethics and associated policies, AURES also enforces zero tolerance against corruption and therefore requires all suppliers and partners to uphold fair, professional and transparent business practices.

Ethics

Our Compliance Manual and Code of Ethics are at the heart of our compliance practice and apply to our employees, Board members, contractors and business partners alike.

Our Code of Ethics includes rules related to:

• Compliance with all valid legislation
• Protection of the environment
• Mutual respect
• Protection of confidential information and know-how
• Responsible communication
• Health and safety
• Teamwork and loyalty
• Employee standards
• Diversity and equal opportunities
• Discrimination in the workplace
• Company property protection

We are committed to delivering a fair, honest and transparent service to our customers and business partners, applying zero tolerance on bribery and corruption. Within our Compliance System, AURES has clearly set out comprehensive rules regarding conflict of interest management, donations and sponsorship and gifts and hospitality.

Compliance manual

Our Compliance manual is a set of standard rules that ensure compliance in each of the Group's areas of activity. The Compliance Manual also outlines the role of the Compliance Officer and describes the procedure for dealing with incidents and breaches of both legal and internal regulations. Each employee must report any breach or suspected breach to his or her supervisor; for more serious incidents, the Compliance Officer must also be informed. The content of the compliance manual is summarised in the brochure "Compliance Codex", which is a practical and easy to digest user-friendly guide for our employees.

SUSTAINABILITY REPORTS

AURES Holdings’ Sustainability Report describes which topics under the environment, social and governance umbrella are most important to the company and our stakeholders. We have also committed to reporting our achievements, challenges and the progress made in relation to our sustainability performance over the year.

• ESG Report 2020
• ESG Report 2021