Industry jobs: Roles filled at Prestige, Leasing Options, Paragon, Hexagon Leasing and Leasing.com

Prestige Fleet Servicing, part of the AA, has made new appointments to its senior team.

Tina Hand joins the company as customer service director.

Hand has more than 18 years’ experience combining customer relations, call centre management resource planning and budget control.

Tony Murtagh has also been appointed as B2B sales director. He brings experience in the fleet industry to the business, most recently holding the position of global sales director for e-mobility and Software as a Service (Saas) provider, GoWithFlow.

Previously, Murtagh has worked with brands across the leasing, vehicle manufacturer and asset finance sectors, Prestige said.

Murtagh said: “The SMR sector is undergoing an exciting period of change. I’m looking forward to joining the Prestige team as we increase our capability to help fleets adapt and transition ahead of the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans.”

Leasing Options appoints new head of compliance

Leasing Options has announced the appointment of Chandni Desai as its new head of compliance.

Desai will be responsible for maintaining the company’s standards in regulatory compliance across areas including governance and risk.

As part of the senior leadership team, she will also be involved in reviewing and monitoring internal policies and procedures, overseeing all elements of staff induction and future proofing the business for any regulatory and industry changes.

Mike Thompson, chief operating officer (COO) at Leasing Options, said: “We are delighted we were able to convince Chandni to join the team and are sure she will help continue the amazing journey we are on.

“When we met Chandni we instantly knew she was going to be a fantastic addition to our team, as she truly wants to help us provide the best service for our customers and her values certainly match ours.

“This is a really exciting time for Leasing Options and we look forward to working with Chandni as part of this next chapter.”

Desai brings more than a decade of experience from working within governance, risk and compliance, having most recently worked at a credit broking firm.

The company said she will work with the senior management team to continue to ‘evolve’ Leasing Options’ processes.

Leasing.com announces restructure

Leasing.com has announced a restructuring of its senior management team.

The business has been reorganised into four key departments – partnerships, marketing, technology, and people – with the senior appointments responsible for each department also forming the company’s strategy team.

Paul Harrison becomes chief partnerships officer, and his expanded role sees him take responsibility for helping Leasing.com’s advertising partners.

He will also continue to lead Leasing.com’s relationships with motor manufacturers, leasing companies, digital partners and suppliers.

Prior to joining Leasing.com, Harrison worked in a variety of management roles in the automotive sector.

Chris Evans has also become chief marketing officer and is responsible for combining digital marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO), user experience (UX), content and social media.

He will be focused on raising brand awareness, creating clear user journeys, and delivering content to help encourage digital transactions, the company said. 

For nearly seven years, Evans has been head of content and social media and, more recently, head of consumer experience.

Prior to Leasing.com, Evans has worked across areas of creative development and production, including as a marketing copywriter and business editor.

Philip Gray becomes chief technology officer (CTO). With a background in software development and IT management, Gray has been at Leasing.com for more than 15 years. As CTO, he will continue to evolve the Leasing.com website.

Michaela Syzling becomes chief human resources (HR) officer after 15 years with Leasing.com and more than two decades in the UK automotive industry.

Syzling has responsibility for the company’s people strategy, as well as the company’s HR, finance, regulatory and compliance and partner verification functions.

Dave Timmis, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Leasing.com, said: “I’m confident that the creation of our four key departments will enable us to do that and build on the phenomenal growth that we have already seen in 2022.

“I’d like to thank the team for all their efforts so far and wish them every success for the future.”

Hexagon Leasing announces new appointments

David Hodgkinson, Michael Webb and Dave Karmock have joined Hexagon Leasing, having previously worked for Ryder.

Hodgkinson joins as head of sales and will be responsible for the development of new business opportunities and widening the company’s truck portfolio within all market sectors.

Previously, Hodkinson worked at Ryder for 18 years, most recently in the role of key account director.

Webb assumes the position of head of national accounts and will be responsible for the management and development of Hexagon’s existing national and key account customer portfolio.

Previously, he worked at Ryder for 20 years as contracts manager and national account manager.

Karmock will also take up the role of fleet engineer. He will work as part of the operations and customer support teams to help ensure the company’s repair and maintenance network is working efficiently, whilst providing technical support to the national account and sales functions.

He worked at Ryder for 10 years in various roles including latterly as national ancillary manager.

Paragon Motor Finance appoints Chris Gerrard as regional sales manager

Paragon Bank has appointed Chris Gerrard as regional sales manager of its motor finance team.

He will be responsible for counties surrounding the M4 corridor including London, Swindon and across to Colchester regions and will report into Geoff Duncalf, national sales manager at Paragon Motor Finance.

The company said that Gerrard will work closely with Paragon’s existing customers to help add value to their businesses and maximise Paragon’s footprint across his regions through new business opportunities.

He re-joins Paragon from working as operations manager for Forza Finance and prior to this, Nexgen Finance, where he was director.

He has previously worked with Paragon as sales executive for Motor Finance, where he focused on new business development and analysis.

Gerrard is responsible for providing his customers with consultative account management in the motor finance sector.

He will also focus on engaging with new partnerships across his territory to build new relationships with both dealers and brokers in the motor, light commercial vehicle (LCV) and leisure markets.

Geoff Duncalf, national sales manager at Paragon, said: “I am delighted to welcome Chris back to Paragon, the external experience he gained whilst away will be invaluable to him and his customers.

“Chris’ exceptional track record in customer service as well as knowledge of Paragon will be a huge asset to his introducers as he promotes our niche product offering throughout the territory.”