Industry jobs: Roles filled at Mer, Lookers, DriveTech and ADT

Karl Anders joins Mer UK as MD

Karl Anders has joined Mer UK’s managing team as managing director (MD).

Anders will be responsible for scaling up its electric vehicle (EV) charging operations in the UK, Mer Charging UK based in London (public charging) and Mer Fleet Services based in Consett.

Kristoffer Thoner, chief executive officer of Mer, said: “With Karl onboard, Mer will continue to lead and build first class, sustainable EV charging solutions for the UK market.

"The timing of his onboarding fits perfectly with our strong sustainability agenda and growth ambitions in the years to come.”

Anders entered the EV industry when he joined the Energy Saving Trust in 2007.

His role was to consult on sustainable and low emission transport to industry on behalf of government bodies Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) and Department of Transport (DfT), which increasingly became focussed on EVs.

He has also held executive roles within Nissan GB and was MD on the board of Innogy eMobility UK.

Anders said: “I have known many members of the Mer team for some time, so understand the real strength of both businesses is the people. It is an honour to be able to join the team and have the opportunity to support them to reach their goals over the next few years.

"The potential of the combined Mer businesses in the UK is phenomenal. This really is the right place at the right time, so I am very excited to join Mer's journey into the future.”

Lookers appoints new group head of talent acquisition

Lookers has named John-Paul (JP) Jones as its news head of talent acquisition, reporting to chief people officer, Chris Whittaker.

Jones has experience in talent attraction, acquisition and employer branding, Lookers said, and joins from food manufacturer, Arla Foods.

Whittaker said: “Our people are at the core of our business and our ability to recruit the right talent and develop great careers is pivotal to our success.

“JP comes to Lookers with outstanding knowledge, skills and experience of driving positive change in talent acquisition and employer branding and I’m delighted that he will be joining a team who are dedicated to our aim of being the number one employer of choice within our industry.”

Jones added: “I’m excited to be able to support the team in delivering great candidate experiences and bringing the very best talent into this successful business.”

DriveTech appoints new UK commercial consultant 

DriveTech, part of the AA, has appointed Anthony Marcou as UK commercial consultant.

Marcou joins Drivetech with more than 12 years of experience in the fleet industry, mainly in fleet management roles, but more recently as a strategic relationship manager in the leasing sector.

The company said he has considerable knowledge and experience of managing complex, compliant and mission-critical fleets.

Jennifer Morris, head of commercial development, Drivetech, said: “We are at a landmark point in automotive history, with many fleets looking to transition away from traditional fuels, while ensuring that fleet driving practices keep pace with new technology.

“As we prepare for this critical shift, we believe that driver training will be more important than ever as fleets take the plunge. We are delighted to welcome Anthony at this pivotal time to drive and support future business growth.”

Marcou also has experience in supporting both operational and strategic elements of fleet management, DriveTech said, and was also the winner of the Fleet Manager of the Year Award, at the 2019 Fleet News Awards.

ADT appoints head of training and education

Applied Driving Techniques (ADT) has appointed Orlando Collesso as head of training and education.

In his new role, he will be responsible for the company’s training proposition, developing blended learning solutions that use advances in driver behaviour monitoring, artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual reality (VR).

Collesso will also be tasked with coordinating and growing ADT’s network of fleet driver trainers.

Andy Phillips, global managing partner at ADT, said: “We are rapidly expanding our blended learning proposition, both in the UK and internationally, so Orlando has a huge role to play in our growth strategy moving forward.

“We will be tapping into his extensive expertise to ensure we are best-placed to meet the changing needs of our fleet customers and deliver best-practice driver education.”

Collesso has almost 20 years of driver training experience and has been an independent fleet safety and efficiency consultant since 2005.

He has provided support to fleets in the UK on behalf of multiple national and international driver safety organisations. He has also spent the past eight years as Lead Trainer for ADT in Scotland, producing and presenting virtual-and classroom-based workshops.

He added: “This is an exciting opportunity, which will enable me to build on ADT’s success within the fleet marketplace and deliver industry-leading driver engagement and learning.

“I will use my training experience, combined with a passion for road safety, to create managed solutions across all online, workshop and behind the wheel requirements.”