ALD Automotive has announced that Greg Taylor has resigned as operations director and will leave the business next month, before taking up a new role as commercial director at Essential Fleet Services. 

The contract hire and leasing company, backed by private equity investors Endless LLP, has operations spanning the North West, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the South East, and has a turnover in excess of £40 million.

Mel Dawson, managing director of ALD Automotive, said he was very sorry to see Taylor leave, but fully understood and respected his decision.

He continued: “It’s an exciting opportunity for him, and the board and all his colleagues wish him well in his new venture. He joined us in 2013 and over the last three years has helped restructure many of our operational back office processes and embed our customer excellence programme. This has helped us significantly during a period in which we have seen our fleet grow by over 30%.”

Taylor said: “The past three years at ALD have been extremely rewarding for me at both a personal and professional level.

“There is a great feeling of loyalty, passion and togetherness at ALD that I have not encountered anywhere else. Mel and the rest of the Board have been very supportive of me and my decision and I know I am leaving at a time when the ALD business has never been stronger”. 

He added: "I am joining the leadership team at Essential in an exciting stage in the company’s development. The ambitions of the stakeholders, coupled with the opportunity to create a market leading operation focused on customer service excellence, are extremely compelling".

Essential Fleet Services chief executive, Ray O'Toole said: "Greg brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the business and he’ll be a great asset to our leadership team and board.”

Dawson will take interim charge of operational responsibilities at ALD until a successor is announced.

Taylor's appointment comes six months after Ed Hummel joined Essential Fleet Services as commercial director.

Hummel joined from EurotaxGlass’s, a provider of automotive data and intelligence, where he held the role of managing director, and had previously worked in sales leadership roles with several automotive organisations including Honda, Volkswagen and Ford.

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