Peugeot announces new UK team

Peugeot has announced changes to its UK team, with Adam Wood appointed managing director (MD) of its UK operations and Kristian Cholmondeley as marketing director.

Wood has worked within the Stellantis Group since 2021, when he joined as marketing director for Vauxhall.

Prior to joining Stellantis, Wood held multiple roles at Renault Group having joined as a graduate, progressing to take on a variety of positions including Dacia brand director, marketing director, head of marketing communications, and corporate planning manager.

Wood succeeds Julie David who is moving into the position of managing director of Stellantis premium brands. He will report to Paul Willcox, MD at Stellantis UK.

Willcox said: “I am pleased to welcome Adam to the Peugeot UK team – he brings a wealth and breadth of experience to the role that will prove invaluable.

"I look forward to working with him over an exciting year for the brand as we launch new product and continue to electrify the model range.”

Cholmondeley joins Peugeot UK having previously held various roles across Stellantis teams.

Having started his career with Peugeot, Cholmondeley most recently served as head of PR for Alfa Romeo and DS Automobiles.

Previous roles include head of communications – DS Automobiles, head of business sales – Citroën and DS Automobiles and head of sales strategy – Citroën and DS Automobiles among others.

He succeeds Steven Wass who has recently been appointed sales director for the Vauxhall brand.

Sam Brandon has also been appointed as regional operations and sales director for the Peugeot brand.

All appointments are effective immediately.

Colin Paterson joins RED Corporate Driver Training

RED Corporate Driver Training has appointed Colin Paterson to the newly created role of corporate marketing. 

Paterson joins the business after spending nearly five years as head of marketing at AA DriveTech.

He was also director of marketing and communications at IAM RoadSmart and marketing and business development manager at Tracker.

Seb Goldin, chief executive officer (CEO) at RED Driver Training, said: “Colin’s expertise in the driver training industry will allow us to open more doors at corporate clients.

“This appointment comes at an important time, not just for RED but for drivers. The demands of more technology, electrification and increased congestion mean that having safe drivers behind the wheel is more important than ever. Despite these changes we believe, as always, the driver is the difference.”

Scania UK appoints Paul Smith as dealer director

Paul Smith has been appointed as dealer director for Scotland at Scania UK.

Smith, who joined Scania UK in 1994 as a technician, has been covering the role of dealer director for Scotland since August 2022.

Smith went on to become workshop foreman at Scania Edinburgh, before gaining his MT10 technician status and promoted to workshop controller in 2002.

In 2005, he moved into a sales role covering specialist vehicle sales East of Scotland. In 2020, he was promoted to his most recent role as head of sales in Scotland.

Chris Newitt, managing director at Scania UK, said: “(Paul) is hugely experienced and brings the best out of the teams that work with him, as his time within the Scania UK family shows.

“His knowledge and experience will be a huge benefit to us, and ultimately, for our valued customers.”

Smith replaces James Colbourne who was promoted to executive services director for Scania UK in April 2022.

Dealer Auction appoints Damien Smith as national account director

Dealer Auction has appointed Damien Smith as national account director.

The company said Smith will work with manufacturers, fleets, captive finance houses and large retailers to help optimise their vehicle remarketing processes via the Dealer Auction platform.

He will be responsible for growing existing relationships with clients and the acquisition of new large-scale customers, Dealer Auction said. 

The company said Smith brings automotive experience to the role including previous sales, marketing, and leadership positions. He joins from Auto Trader where he was client development director.

Le Etta Pearce, CEO at Dealer Auction, said: “Dealer Auction is growing at pace and attracting a lot of interest from large vendors looking to modernise their remarketing operations.

“With the likes of MG, Nissan, Renault, Mobilize and Hyundai using our open and closed networks to remarket their vehicles faster and more profitably than ever, it’s right we reinforce our capabilities and expertise in this area in preparation for further growth.

“Damien’s personality and experience is a perfect fit and we’re really happy to have him on board.”

New appointments at DriverCheck

Ebbon Group has announced new appointments at its DriverCheck licence checking and compliance business which for all, but new business sales, will be led by head of operations, Yvette Giannini.

Giannini was previously operations manager at DriverCheck before progressing onto operations director at the company.

Giannini will report into joint group CEOs Robert Pilkington and Craig Gibbin.

Pilkinton said: “We are delighted to announce Yvette Giannini as the new head of our DriverCheck operations, which will continue to be based in Glasgow and to benefit from technology and security support from group.

“This will allow us to continue to expand and develop the business, with recruitment currently ongoing within the sales and account management area.

“We also congratulate Sinead Moy in being promoted to operations manager and Christina Telford who is heading up the financial side of DriverCheck, working closely with our group financial controller, Kevin Stopps.”