Nigel Stead has been appointed managing director for both Lex and Autolease with effect from early March.

The announcement follows the news that the managing director of Lex, Jon Walden, will leave the business at the end of next month.

Lex is the country’s biggest lease company managing more than 245,700 vehicles and Autolease is the third largest with 126,000 vehicles on its books.

The news comes on the back of Lloyds TSB’s acquisition of HBOS, after which it was confirmed that Lex and Autolease would be led by a single senior management team.

David Oldfield, managing director for Lloyds Banking Group Asset Finance, which includes the contract hire, motor, consumer and asset finance businesses, said: “Jon has decided to pursue work outside the financial services market and we offer him our best wishes as he prepares to leave the Group.

“Nigel Stead has been in the contract hire industry for many years and is well known and highly respected. We are already planning how to bring the Lex and Autolease businesses together to create a strong and innovative market leader offering the highest levels of service, buying power and industry expertise.

“Our overriding goal will be to use the combined strength of both businesses to further enhance the relationships with our customers and consistently add value to their day-to-day operations.”