Industry jobs: Roles filled at Abax, City Auction Group, Kwik Fit, Synergy Car Leasing and Solera

Abax UK appoints new commercial director

Abax has appointed Joe Medina-Browne to the role of commercial director to oversee the UK business’s operations.

Medina-Browne takes over from Bart Claes, Abax’s commercial director for Netherlands and Belgium, who has managed the UK role on an interim basis since September.

Erik Rehn, head of sales operations at Abax, said: "Joe's extensive experience in driving sales growth and fostering strategic partnerships aligns perfectly with our mission.

“His dynamic approach and fresh insights are crucial as we expand our reach and strengthen our position in the market.

“We're confident that under Joe's leadership, our UK team will achieve new milestones and contribute significantly to our overall success."

Medina-Browne added: “Together, we will focus on delivering cutting-edge products and exceptional service to our clients, driving growth, and further establishing Abax as a leader in the UK market. I look forward to this journey and the opportunity to make a significant impact."

Solera strengthens fleet team with a senior appointment

Solera has strengthened its fleet team by appointing Jog Lall as the business development director for international fleet solutions.

He will be responsible for growing Solera’s fleet business in the UK and Europe.

He said: “Throughout my career, I’ve been passionate about bringing innovative technologies to market to drive positive changes in the automotive sector.

“The fleet sector will face significant change on the journey to net zero. This goal can be achieved sooner using powerful, advanced software solutions to optimise fleet operations.

“As part of the Solera team, I can help fleets across Europe benefit from world-leading fleet management solutions; we have a vital role in helping achieve sustainability goals through technological innovation.”
Lall returns to Solera after previous roles within the company as global director of business development and managing director between 2016 and 2019.

He has also held senior roles in industry that include director and general manager with industrial machinery manufacturer, Pramac and, prior to that, sales and marketing director with Eminox, a global specialist manufacturer and supplier of exhausts and emission control systems.

Chris Wright, vice president of Solera North Europe, said: “Jog’s welcome return to Solera heralds the start of an exciting new year for the business and a period of expansion across Europe for our fleet operations.

“With his extensive automotive sector industry experience and knowledge of net zero strategies, he will drive our growth in the UK and Europe.”

Synergy Car Leasing appoints new MD

Synergy Car Leasing has appointed Will Voisey as managing director to drive the next phase of its growth strategy.

Voisey has worked at Synergy for over 10 years, initially as a sales account manager rising to general sales manager in July 2023.

Synergy provides business and personal leasing, as well as fleet management and salary sacrifice across the UK, and sees Voisey’s appointment as key to its next stage of development.  

He said: “I’m honoured to take on the role of managing director at Synergy Car Leasing.

“Synergy has a great team of people and a strong leadership team, and we are well placed to deliver our next stage of growth.  As a long-standing employee of Synergy, I am excited to be building on our success to date.”

He added: “Delivering an excellent leasing experience will remain at the heart of our operations, and we are building on this by investing in technology developments and process efficiencies to enhance our offering and continue our growth ambitions.”

Kwik Fit appoints Mark Wellings

Kwik Fit has appointed Mark Wellings to lead its mobile tyre fitting operation. 

Wellings has rejoined the company some 26 years after his first role with the company.  He began his career with Kwik Fit in 1997 as a mobile tyre fitting technician before moving into supervisory and managerial roles within the mobile division.

After leaving Kwik Fit in 2003 Wellings was part of the original founding team at Event Tyres before joining Black Circles in 2017. 

His career has now come full circle by rejoining Kwik Fit as divisional director - mobile. 

He takes over the leadership of Kwik Fit’s mobile tyre fitting service from Simon Lucas, who is moving to lead several strategic development programmes in the wider Kwik Fit Group.

Mark Slade, managing director of Kwik Fit, said: “We are delighted that Mark has rejoined the business. 

“We’ve been operating a mobile tyre fitting fleet for longer than any other company in the UK.  It has always been critical to the service we provide fleet customers, and Simon has been instrumental in building an operation which has strengthened our offering to all Kwik Fit customers.

“Demand for mobile tyre fitting continues to be strong across our customer base and we believe that Mark’s energy, enthusiasm and experience will be invaluable in meeting that demand.”

Wellings added: “I’m really excited about leading Kwik Fit’s mobile division on the next phase of its development. 

“Some elements of the operation, such as the technology we use and the seamless integration with our supply chains, have changed beyond recognition since my first days as a mobile fitter. 

“The core requirements remain the same – delivering high quality customer service with the right tyres in the right place at the right time.

“Whatever developments we make to the service, I will be laser focused on ensuring they continue to make life as easy as possible for our customers.”

City Auction Group appoints new head of dealership and EV remarketing

City Auction Group has just appointed Nicola Hurst as the new head of dealership and EV remarketing for the Group’s Peterborough auction site.

Formerly, UK and Ireland used cars manager at Tesla Motors, she was responsible for growing the non-Tesla trade-in programme, profit and loss, process alignment, field training, store interactions, acceptance and attachment levels, disposal routes, auction benchmarking of performance and service level agreements (SLAs). 

She also held the position of remarketing account manager at Onto, where she was responsible for the remarketing of EVs, upon defleet from the 6,000 cars on their EV subscription service. 

In her new role at City Auction Group, Hurst will be responsible for leading, overseeing and developing relationships with dealer groups and EV vendors and buyers.

She said: “Buyer relationships, research and monitoring of market conditions were a major element of my previous role, and I built a vast knowledge of buyer segmentation during different market conditions.

“I intend to share my wealth of industry knowledge, energy and drive, to strengthen and grow our remarketing position within the dealer part exchange and electric vehicle domain.

“It’s a very exciting time to be joining City Auction and the Group’s vision and values are aligned with my own and I can’t wait to be a part of this growing and expanding business.”

Michael Tomalin, CEO of City Auction Group, added: “We are delighted to welcome Nicola to our team, she is an experienced automotive leader who will make a significant difference to our developing business across the UK and Ireland.”