Jon Pollock, corporate sales director, Nissan GB

Biggest achievement in your current role?
Supporting my sales teams to deliver against all our volume and share targets for our fiscal year end and in the plate change month of March, It was a record fleet sales result for Nissan and a hige credit to my team.

Person who has had the biggest influence on your career?
Jon Williams, president and managing director of Toyota GB  for giving me the opportunity to gain a wide variety of experience across both sales and marketing disciplines.

What’s your dream holiday and why?
The ideal location would be somewhere you can ski and scuba dive! So therefore New Zealand and Australia I guess.

Who was the last person you received a text message from?
My son, looking for a loan.

What is your favourite sitcom and why?
The Royle Family, pure class.

What is your favourite film and why?
Anything  by Quentin Tarantino

You are on a desert island – what three things do you take with you?
iPad, surfboard, and my dogs

When was the last time you took public transport and where were you going?
The tube on my way to meet Simon Harris from Fleet News.

What is the first thing you would do if you were made Prime Minister for the day?
Review the taxation position for zero emission vehicles.

If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would buy and why?
A barn to keep the classic cars I would buy in.

What was your biggest mistake in business – and what did you learn from it?
When I was younger my biggest mistake was not always learning from my mistakes. Over time you learn to spot the signs. Often if you feel a decision is not quite right then more often than not that instinct turns out to be right. For me the biggest thing is not be afraid of trying something again. Sometimes ideas fail due to only small points of circumstance.

What is your best childhood memory?
Walking in the mountains in Wales with my grandfather.

What is your favourite dish at a restaurant?
Really hard! But if I had to pick one then, soft shell crab.

What is your favourite book and why?
Keith Richards autobiography, do I have to explain?

What would you say is your guilty pleasure?
Coronation Street.

How would you describe your leadership style?
Open, communicative, supportive, direct, performance-focused.

When did you last feel guilty about the environment and why?
Its topical as for Nissan environmental focus is constant, but personally  normally when I put out the recycling.

Who was your childhood hero?
JPR Williams. One of the best Welsh full backs ever, and he was always covered in blood but still performed amazingly which always fascinated me as a child.

Which historical character do you most identify with?
William Shakespeare. To me no one betters his appreciation of the human condition and then has the ability to play it back to us in such rich stories within his plays and Sonnets.

What advice would you give your 18-year-old self?
Live life to the full. Never miss an opportunity.

What is the one object you couldn’t live without?
Easy, my iPad.

If you could work in another profession what would it be?
The Arts or travel (not sure what capacity).

What’s the best gift you’ve ever been given?
A combined scuba diving watch and dive computer (just this Christmas in fact).

What’s your least favourite food?
Celery.

Which superhero from comics would you most like to be and why?
The silver surfer, (He was a bit dark , edgy and I could relate to the surfing!)

What is your dream car?
It has to be the E type Jaguar roadster…such a classic design.

What has been the pivotal moment in your life?
Joining Ford Motor Company as a graduate recruit. It started my love of the Motor industry.