Aston Barclay has strengthened its senior management team in preparation for further sales growth and launches in 2018.

Ray Sommerville has joined the board as a non-executive director and strategy advisor.

He was previously managing director and group chief executive of Perrys Group for 16 years and currently holds non-executive positions at GardX and Now Motor Retailing, trading as Now Vauxhall. He was also a non-executive director at Cox Automotive.

Sommerville has already refocused the Aston Barclay sales team’s efforts, with Rob Wittridge becoming head of dealer new business and Gary Johnson joining from Manheim as dealer national sales manager.

Nick Thompson joins from Copart as head of corporate and manufacturer new business to complete the new team.

John Crichton has also joined Aston Barclay as its new commercial director and chief financial officer. He joins from Marston Holdings where he was chief financial officer of the UK’s largest judicial services group.

Previously he was finance director of APCOA Parking UK.

Meanwhile, Alex Owen has been promoted to the position of group financial director to oversee the group’s day-to-day financial matters.

Owen has a remarketing background, having spent nine years with Cox Automotive, including two years as financial controller.  She has been with Aston Barclay for the past six months and replaces Rob Hoy.

Aston Barclay’s chief executive Neil Hodson said: “I would like to welcome John, Alex and Ray to the board. They bring a raft of experience to the group.

“Our new team is now in place to support our 2018 growth plans following the very positive reaction we have had from customers on our plans to revolutionise the remarketing industry.

“Ray has already done a great job in redefining the roles of our sales team to meet the needs of prospective dealer, fleet and OEM customers.”

Pictured: The new sales team, (L) Gary Johnson, Rob Wittridge and Nick Thompson. 

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