Trading places THE latest appointments in the fleet industry.

Thomas leads Ryland expansion plans

NIGEL Thomas has joined the Ryland Group as group fleet development director responsible for expanding the corporate fleet business across the group’s dealer networks. Thomas joins Ryland from the Pendragon Group. In the newly-created post he will ensure that fleets have a central point of contact for marques such as BMW, Honda and Volvo. He brings more than 15 years’ experience to Ryland gained in prestige automotive and the fleet industry. Thomas said: ‘Having a dedicated resource for organisations and the larger leasing companies will also enable us to develop the corporate and fleet business more effectively across the group.’

FLEET management group Inspire Fleet Solutions has appointed Liam Coleman to its account management team. He will be responsible for liaising with existing and potential customers, handling and fulfilling quote requests and providing management reports and presentations. Coleman joins from Inchcape Fleet Solutions.

Kathleen Whittam has joined National Car Rental as head of the southern sales team. Whittam will be responsible for growing National’s corporate and fleet business as well as creating new business opportunities. She joins from Hays DX Mail and Parcel Services and brings more than 18 years’ total experience in the rental and leasing markets. This includes nine years at Highway Vehicle Management, where she was responsible for developing existing accounts and nine years at Guy Salmon Prestige Rental in various sales roles.

CUSTOM Fleet has appointed two new broker managers as part of an expansion into the fleet broker market. David Brown and Paul Thurgood have both joined and will be responsible for the West Midlands and South East regions respectively. They will be in charge of about 25 brokers in their regions and will develop links in Custom Fleet’s broker division.