Industry jobs: Roles filled at Speedy, Prohire, Prometeon, Jigcar, HDI Global, iVendi, Industry Insights and Freenow

Prohire makes operations team appointments 

Prohire has made five new appointments to its operations team as part of its commitment to providing industry-leading customer service.

Stephen Croxford joins as operations manager to lead the teams responsible for maximising uptime and compliance of the 3,000-strong Prohire fleet, which includes vehicles from its alternative fuels division Progreen. 

He joins from Hexagon Leasing where he was rental operations manager. Prior to that he was maintenance and compliance manager at Rivus Fleet Solutions.

Heading up Prohire’s dedicated compliance team is Marc Palaggi, who held the same role at Hexagon Leasing for seven years. 

His team will proactively liaise with customers and suppliers to make service bookings to ensure that all vehicles are complaint. 

Responsible for the customer liaison team covering breakdowns and defects is Ashley Gunnell who joins from Enterprise Flex-E-Rent where he worked for six years, most recently as maintenance supervisor for the company’s Ireland fleet. 

Tasked with maximising uptime for customers, Gunnell and his team will ensure customers receive proactive updates on any vehicles that are off the road, ensuring they are aware of the progress being made and when they can expect them to be back in service. 

Joining the operations team as workshop controller is Ian Mansley, who will be pivotal in getting customer vehicles back onto the road as efficiently and safely as possible. Prior to joining Prohire, he was VOR team leam leader at Hexagon Leasing.

Finally, as rental operations manager for Prohire’s 400-strong Proflex national rental fleet, Stuart Haskins will ensure the full range of light and heavy commercial vehicles are always available for customers. 

This involves managing the day-to-day duties of the company’s drivers and valets and liaising with workshop control to ensure vehicles are turned around for customers to minimise downtime. 

He has 13 years’ experience in commercial fleet management, most recently as fleet maintenance controller at Allport Group. 

Dean Bailey, operations director at Prohire, said: “Stephen, Marc, Ashley, Ian and Stuart are at the forefront of offering industry-leading customer service through the best customer journey possible and it gives me great pleasure to welcome them to the team.” 

Speedy appoints commercial manager to drive growth  

Speedy Freight has appointed Mitchell Bryant as senior commercial Manager, responsible for driving expansion and development for its fulfilment proposition Speedy Fulfil.

Bryant has held senior commercial roles at Honeywell, Toyota Material Handling and Windsor Materials Handling, with a background in sustainable logistics and technology-driven solutions.

Prior to joining Speedy Fulfil, he was head of business development at Fulfilmentcrowd, where he helped deploy custom solutions for high-volume global fulfilment. 

He said: “I am looking forward to building on Speedy’s established reputation, identifying and developing new opportunities to drive growth and delivering exceptional end-to-end logistics solutions across air, freight, fulfilment and parcels for our customers.”

Speedy Freight’s chief operating officer, John Munnelly, added: “Mitch has a strong track record in strategic communications, operational efficiencies and customer-centric fulfilment services, supporting high-growth omnichannel brands with their fulfilment and supply chain needs. 

“His deep understanding of automated and SaaS-based logistics solutions makes him a perfect fit to drive Speedy Fulfil’s growth and innovation and we are pleased to welcome him to the team.”

Prometeon Tyre Group names Steve Tift as new MD

Prometeon Tyre Group has announced Steve Tift as its new managing director for the UK and Eire.

Tift steps into the role with nine years of experience at Prometeon, where he has played a key role in developing successful sales teams and strengthening customer relationships. 

Joining in 2016 as business development manager, he was soon promoted to UK sales manager and then sales director in January 2023.

He said: “I've been here for almost nine years, and developing and rebuilding successful sales teams has been my proudest achievement, along with the growth we’ve achieved in Ireland which has been unprecedented with our strategic partnerships.”

Jigcar names new transport director 

Jigcar has appointed James Griffin to the new role of transport director, starting with immediate effect.

The appointment is part of the ambitious strategic growth plans for the start-up which specialises in delivering AI-driven vehicle transportation solutions for multi-site dealer groups, car supermarkets, leasing companies and rental firms.

Griffin is the former head of logistics at Cazoo, responsible for overseeing the movements of trucks, drivers and third-party transport providers as well as internal logistics.

Prior to that he managed regional logistics for Wincanton.

Elliott Perks, CEO of Jigcar, said: “In a period where customer-delivered fleet sales are dominating the new car market, having James on the management team is another step in our strategy to becoming the go-to team of experts in our field of automotive transport, not just a software provider.”

This latest senior management hiring follows last year’s appointment of Simon Bottomley as Jigcar’s chairman.

Bottomley retains his position as chief operating officer of Vindis Group and was previously chairman of Hutchings Motor Group, chief operating officer of Hendy Group and group managing director of Thurlow Nunn.

Lisa Coté appointed VP sales and sales operations at iVendi

Lisa Coté has been appointed as VP sales and sales operations at iVendi.

The newly created role will see her work with the company’s sales teams to deliver its product range to new and existing customers, while she will also be involved in streamlining systems and processes to enhance the customer experience.

She spent more than 20 years at Auto Trader, ultimately becoming operations director for Salesforce, systems and process, and was also head of operations at Cox Automotive-owned Modix. 

Most recently, she was sales enablement lead for Salesforce in a retail role at Close Brothers and also worked for iVendi previously in an interim role as commercial process manager.

She said: “I’m very much enjoying being part of the team here once again and am looking forward to contributing to the company’s future success. Especially exciting are new products arriving in 2025 with potential for genuine market disruption.”

Darren Sinclair, chief commercial officer at iVendi, added: “Lisa is well-known across the retail motor industry as someone with huge enthusiasm, experience and ability, and I have no doubt she will prove to be a genuine asset to iVendi in the years ahead.”

Alan Cottrill joins Industry Insights

Industry Insights is delighted to welcome Alan Cottrill to the motor claims business consultancy team. 

Cottrill has previously held roles at Audatex, Sikkens and Trak Global, having joined the vehicle repair sector in 1993 as an area sales manager for Akzo Nobel Sikkens where, after five years, he was approached to join the sales team at Audatex - leaving as commercial director in 2009.

He later teamed up with entrepreneur Nick Corrie and co-founded Trak Global. 

He said: “I’ve watched his business grow into the industry powerhouse it is today and I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences in both the motor claims and telematics markets with the Industry Insights partners.”

Paul Sell, Industry Insights and Trend Tracker director, added: “From developing telematics and connected car data tech to working with global insurers on risk-based pricing and customer engagement, Alan’s claims management experience will benefit our clients from day one.”

HDI Global appoints new chief operating officer and captives manager

HDI Global has announced the appointment of Geoff Godwin as chief operating officer and Dan Sammons as captives manager. 

Godwin (pictured above), who takes up his new role from April 28, will join the executive team, reporting to Stephanie Ogden, CEO of HDI Global UK and Ireland.

Godwin’s industry career spans some 32 years, in a variety of leadership positions and most recently as chief operating officer at AIG. 

Ogden said: “Geoff will bring fresh thinking to our business at a time when service and operational excellence is at the core of our growth strategy. 

“I am confident that alongside the rest of our executive team, Geoff and our whole operations function will deliver great things in 2025 and beyond.”

Godwin added: “The operations teams across HDI are energetic and eager to work alongside the wider business functions and this collaborative approach will be key to our ongoing success.”

Meanwhile, Sammons (pictured below) joins HDI from AIG, where he held a variety of roles across the alternative risk transfer and captive underwriting units, most recently as head of alternative risk solutions UK.

 

He will report to Oliver Davies, chief distribution officer at HDI Global UK and Ireland.

Davies said: “I am thrilled to welcome Dan to HDI to lead our Captives growth strategy across the UK and Ireland and further cement HDI’s position as a global leader in captives and alternative risk transfer.”

Freenow appoints new CFO

European multi-mobility app Freenow has appointed Lennart Zipfel as its new chief commercial officer, replacing Johannes Prantl who is retiring. 

Zipfel will continue the work of his predecessor in maintaining the financial stability of the company after it reached break-even in mid-2024. 

He has been with Freenow for more than six years, taking management positions in various areas, such as commercial finance, corporate development and country operations. 

Over the past two years he was vice president of the finance department.

He said: “My focus will be to ensure the stability and sustainable growth in a compliant manner, driven by our core taxi services.”

Thomas Zimmermann, CEO of Freenow, added: “His deep understanding of our business and fresh perspectives are invaluable for our continuous growth and success.”