His role is to increase sales and revenue growth, manage relationships with Allison’s bus OEM and fleet customers and to support market development activities. Choudhury, who has an automotive engineering background and worked previously at Tesco PLC in a purchasing role, will be based at Allison’s UK sales office in Ampthill, Bedfordshire. He assumes the position previously held by Patricia Cobbold, who died earlier this year. Jumel will take on her roles at the IRTE and ALBUM.
Skillnet, apprenticeships provider for the motor trade, is proud to announce a new member of its senior management team. Kevin Perks MIRTE has joined Skillnet as director of delivery. Working with key brands such as Scania, Ford DAF and McLaren, Kevin is supporting Skillnet’s drive towards 2020. He comes with a wealth of experience from Ford, Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover and Volvo
Parkeon Transportation is expanding its systems integration capability into on-vehicle surveillance. CCTV specialist Anthony O’Brien has joined the company and will be working with bus customers to introduce the latest DVR technology to augment passenger safety and asset security. Parkeon has created a partnership with technology provider Timespace and will be using its extensive systems experience and nationwide support network to bring a fresh offer to the market.
Vehicle CCTV telematics specialist VisionTrack has appointed Richard Lane as commercial manager to support and build on the company’s recent growth. With 14 years in senior telematics roles, Richard will bring a wealth of experience to VisionTrack. He has joined VisionTrack having spent six years at Ctrack where he managed marketing, distribution and partnerships throughout Europe, and more recently also responsible for enterprise sales management and corporate sales.
In July, a team of four cyclists from leading commercial vehicle bodybuilder Paneltex in Hull attempted to cycle part of the Tour de France route, raising a fantastic sum of £5091.25 for the nominated Paneltex charity of the year, Hull and East Yorkshire Mind. The Paneltex team was part of the 25th year celebrations for the celebrated Etape du Tour, an event in France that enables amateur cyclists to conquer one of the steep mountain ranges from the iconic Tour de France cycle race. Phil Carrick, Andy Murphy, Keith Drake and Gary Carmichael took part in the 125-mile event which took over 11 hours to complete, during which the team climbed to a height of 3613 m.
Daimler Fleet Management (DFM) has strengthened its offering to UK customers by recruiting four sales specialists. Their arrivals come as DFM continues to expand its multi-brand contract hire and leasing service to fleets large and small, across both private and public sectors. Most senior of the new appointments is Simon Barr, who joins as new business sales manager. Simon’s track record includes nearly 20 years in the fleet industry. Oliver Offredy, meanwhile, spent the last six years in the fleet sales team of Mercedes-Benz Retail Group, in London, before moving to DFM to take up the role of internal account manager. The position of fleet sales manager, with responsibility for supporting specialist channel customers such as bodyshops, and rental and chauffeur operators, has been filled by Matthew Pretorius. Matthew worked previously for a leading vehicle solutions provider where he was responsible for large corporate and public-sector customers. DFM’s new business sales manager for the Midlands and North is Ashley Boaden, whose 14 years of automotive experience have taken him through retail and and fleet roles, most recently as new business fleet sales manager for a large car manufacturer.
Gainsborough-based emissions specialists Eminox has appointed Steve Whelan as its new technical director. In his new role, Whelan will be responsible for the company’s product development as well as research and advanced engineering, helping to shape Eminox’s technology strategy for the future. He will be responsible for four teams including design, product development, retrofit product development and advanced technology and innovation. As well as managing existing development programmes, Steve will be instrumental in delivering innovative new technology solutions in reducing emissions on heavy duty powertrain platforms. Whelan has nearly 30 years of experience within the industry having previously worked for Ricardo, Clean Air Power, and most recently Tata Technologies.
Jacqueline O’Donovan, managing director of O’Donovan Waste Disposal, is to receive the Presidential Distinguished Service Awards for the Irish Abroad for her support of the Irish Community. A fellow winner this year is the popular US film actor Liam Neeson.
Irizar UK’s northern area sales manager Stuart Smithson is resting his aching legs after raising well over £2,000 for transport industry charity Transaid by taking part in the organisation’s 240-mile sponsored cycle ride from London to Paris in September.
Transwide & Teleroute’s new director of product management is Alexander Sollmann. He will be responsible for the product management for its portfolio of transport management software and freight exchanges. In this role, he will bring over 24 years of experience in the transport and logistics industry, of which a decade was spent at Transporeon.
Windscreen wiper manufacturer Trico has announced the promotion of Adam Richards to managing director for Trico Ltd, covering its European operations. Richards was originally recruited as operations manager of Trico Pontypool in early 2010, having previously worked in the materials and supply chain management sector.
David Hanna has been appointed to the role of head of fleet for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. He will replace Chris Black who left the brand in October. Hanna will join Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles from his current role as national fleet sales manager for Audi UK. Prior to joining the group in 2014, David worked for Nissan GB and Mitsubishi UK where he held various sales, marketing and fleet roles covering both cars and light commercial vehicles.
A. Culpin and Son, Volvo Trucks’ dealer in Pinchbeck, Spalding, Lincolnshire is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Rushmer as business development manager. The new post has been created as a result of a partnership with Volvo Truck and Bus Centre (East Anglia). Previously employed as a Service Manager at Volvo Truck and Bus Centre (East Anglia), Peter brings a proven track record and a wide experience of Volvo Trucks’ network operations to the new role.