Truck manufacturer MAN Truck & Bus UK has announced former operations director David Cussans will return to the company as head of ‘own retail’ in September.
Cussans worked at MTBUK from to 2000 to 2009, when he rose from general manager retail sales to UK operations director.
Thomas Hemmerich, managing director, said: “For the past seven years David has been working with Scania, our sister company, as regional executive director and member of the Scania GB executive team and customer service champion.
“David will take responsibility for the wholly owned branches and for new truck sales. He is uniquely qualified for those responsibilities and we are lucky that we have been able to attract him to our company”.
Cussans added: “I am delighted to accept this challenge with MTBUK where I will join a new, exciting management team. I will also be reunited with many great colleagues and dealer friends in a role where I can fully concentrate on the customers and the market and all that MAN has to offer.”
Yorkshire-based waste company Whitkirk Waste Solutions, which is part of the £50m Bowring Group, has appointed Phil Schofield as sales manager. The appointment comes as the company looks to build on its success in the food and drinks sector, where it specialises in wet waste tankering, disposal and secure destruction for several high-profile global brands. Phil joins Whitkirk Waste Solutions from Acumen Waste in Leeds where he spent four years as sales manager. In his new role, he will focus on business development, targeting new sectors and introducing new services to ensure that the company can offer a total waste package to its customers, whatever the waste stream.
Liquid nitrogen refrigeration company Dearman has appointed Allan Gray as its new chief financial officer, marking the second senior appointment at Dearman in as many months and highlighting the management’s commitment to broadening the business’s commercial scope. He joins Dearman following two years as CEO of Aquapurum Water Pvt. Ltd., delivering drinking water and water treatment in India through a partner-manufactured, ground-breaking water purification technology.
Following a three-month senior consultancy role, MWheels has officially appointed Mike Cornwell to the newly created post of European supply chain manager. Having already introduced a sales and operations planning process along with a structured sales forecasting methodology, Cornwell will further develop integrated systems with service partners and suppliers to improve distribution efficiency for the company’s full remit of commercial vehicle wheels. Cornwell, who has held senior supply chain roles for over 25 years in a range of global automotive companies including TRW, Bosal and Cummins, will report to Matthew Mardle, Chief Operating Officer of MWheels. MWheels is the new name of Motor Wheel Service Distribution (MWSD), which rebranded in May 2017 to bring its European operations under one banner. The company stocks a comprehensive range of steel wheels and has exclusive European rights for supply of Xlite and Xbrite+ forged aluminium wheels.
TotalKare, the UK's number one provider of heavy-duty vehicle lifting solutions, has appointed Ryan Stacey as the company's new dedicated inspection and training engineer. He will be solely responsible for Reports of Thorough Examination and will become an additional training person who is capable of delivering TotalKare's CPD-approved training programmes. Before taking up this new post at TotalKare, Ryan was the company's end-of-line tester of major repairs and pre-owned lifts in the Halesowen factory and has been with the company for roughly five years. This not only means that Ryan has in-depth knowledge of all the products he will be working with, but his appointment also underlines TotalKare's unshakable commitment to delivering comprehensive training programmes and producing Reports of Thorough Examination as a growing part of the company's service offerings.
TRICO Europe is delighted to welcome Hannah Martin as product and marketing coordinator to its Pontypool HO. Hannah will be working alongside windscreen wiper supplier TRICO’s senior marketing manager, brand & product, Sam Robinson, to develop and implement the marketing strategies for TRICO and its customers, including exhibitions, PR and advertising campaigns.
The Fortec Distribution Network has appointed Leo Schifano as regional commercial manager for the south. In his new role, Leo is responsible for looking after some 30 members of the network, stretching from Kent to Lincolnshire and across to Slough. With more than 30 years in the transport industry, Leo joins Fortec after spending seven years with Pallex where he was national sales support manager.
Fleet software Jaama has appointed six customer-facing employees. The recruits include a technical client manager, Collette Dooley, and four technical support advisors – Abbi Storer, Gerald Hyde, Sam Worton and Aimee Lund, who all sit within Jaama’s customer service department, and a project consultant, Lauren Haggerty, who has joined the company’s implementation team. Jaama managing director Martin Evans says: “The expansion in Jaama’s customer base across all business sectors in which we operate - public and private fleets including those with their own workshops, vehicle leasing and rental companies, and plant, equipment and tool hire - is driving the need to recruit additional staff.”
As part of its plans to expand its national tail lift business, Marshall Fleet Solutions has appointed Toni Oldfield to the position of business growth and customer experience manager within the Marshall Tail Lift (MTL) division of the Cambridge-based company. Oldfield joined the company in May this year in this newly-created position, and reports directly to Stanley Backhouse, head of business stream for the company’s growing tail lift division. Prior to joining Marshall Fleet Solutions, she spent 12 years at Europcar, both within a branch manager role managing multiple branches and, more recently, as management development consultant working to train and develop the sales force and management team to increase growth and drive sales.
CHARITY NEWS
Renault Trucks is supporting SSAFA, the UK’s oldest national tri-service military charity, with Ride to the Somme 2017 (30th August – 2nd September) - a 200 mile bike ride to commemorate the cycling soldiers who fought and fell during the Great War. In addition to providing a new Renault Trucks Master crew van and a Range T520 6x2 tractor unit to assist with logistics along the route, Renault Trucks has also entered a team of four riders from its Warwick headquarters into the event: Wencke Roovers and Alex Williams from Marketing, Sonica Dahri from the Legal Department and retail development director Ian Wrench.Starting at the London Imperial War Museum in South London, the Ride to the Somme cyclists will head to France, visiting Arras and important historical landmarks along the upper reaches of the River Somme, into Flanders and reach their final destination, Tyne Cot, the largest of all the Commonwealth War Grave cemeteries where over 55,000 soldiers are remembered. The event will end by attending the daily Last Post Ceremony at The Menin Gate in Ypres on September 2nd. “All the Team Renault Trucks riders are novices, so tackling routes of between 50 and 80 miles a day will be a real challenge for us and our training has already started in earnest,” says Renault Trucks’ marketing communications manager Alex Williams. To support Team Renault Trucks with their fundraising efforts for SSAFA’s Ride to the Somme, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/renault-trucks-uk-team
Volvo Bus raised £15,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust charity from its eighth annual golf day held at the Warwickshire Golf and Country Club. Each year the fundraising golf event, which has become regular fixture in the bus and coach industry calendar, attracts more than 100 golfers, including Volvo employees, business partners and suppliers. On the day, the amount of money raised exceeded the £15,000 mark, bringing the total figure raised from Volvo Bus since the competition began to approximately £94,000. The golf day provides a full day of sporting competition, hospitality and entertainment for those taking part. Starting with a hearty breakfast before heading out onto the golf course, a selection of prizes were up for grabs for golfers to test their skills, including nearest the pin and longest drive of the day, as well as ‘beat the pro’. Once the competition is completed, it is back to the clubhouse for refreshments. A gala dinner then takes place, featuring a raffle, followed by evening entertainment.
Bolton Wanderers FC legend Jimmy Phillips teamed-up with Mercedes-Benz Vans Dealer Ciceley Commercials to support a team of charity walkers on the gruelling Three Peaks Challenge. The trial entails trekking over the highest points of England, Scotland and Wales within 24 hours, which means a comfortable, reliable vehicle in which to drive between them is every bit as crucial to success as strong legs and lungs. Phillips, now Wanderers Academy director, acted as support driver to the team of walkers, driving between the three hiking sections in a nine-seat Mercedes-Benz Vito Tourer loaned by Ciceley Commercials’ Bolton branch. Led by tireless fundraiser Daniella Chesney, the sponsored walkers were raising cash for The Christie Charity, which supports the work of Manchester’s Christie Hospital, the largest cancer treatment centre of its kind in Europe. Their target is £10,000. www.justgiving.com/fundraising/daniella-chesney
The early mornings, aching limbs and blisters didn’t stop the Specials Team at Autoglass, who completed with determination the National Three Peaks Challenge this summer in aid of children’s charity ‘Together for Short Lives’. Seven colleagues from the Specialist Vehicle team at Autoglass gathered from across the UK to climb Ben Nevis, Mount Snowdon and Scafell Pike together. The team successfully completed the challenge in just under 39 hours; and with the support of colleagues, friends and family they raised £3,808.63 for their chosen charity (www.justgiving.com/fundraising/autoglassspecialsteam). Mark Alexander, national operations manager, said: “I am thrilled to have climbed the National Three Peaks Challenge in aid of such a worthwhile charity. This was one of the toughest, yet most exhilarating challenges of my life. Knowing the money we raised will be used to improve the lives of terminally ill children and their families, throughout the UK, is the best part of all”.