Redde Northgate appoints Neil McCrossan as new Northgate MD

Redde Northgate has named Neil McCrossan as the new managing director of Northgate UK and Ireland.

He will take responsibility for Northgate’s fleet mobility businesses in the UK and Ireland plus Northgate’s subsidiary businesses, Blakedale, FridgeXpress and ChargedEV.

This will include both the Northgate and Auxillis Services branch networks.

A leading figure within the rental industry for more than 40 years, McCrossan has been instrumental in developing many of the service propositions that are now considered to be standard within the industry.

He said: “I am proud to have been part of Northgate’s impressive growth and in accepting the role of managing director.

“I am looking forward to continuing to collaborate with a talented team under the new structure that focuses on driving growth and customer success for the future.”

He added: “We are now firmly positioned as a full-service provider with fleet management, accident management, and telematics among our many products, alongside our insurance replacement business and network of workshops and bodyshops is well underway.

“We are proud to help fleets lower their costs, boost efficiency, and become increasingly sustainable at the same time.”

Northgate, he says, will continue with its strategy of maximising customer efficiencies by providing a diverse range of mobility and LCV services.

This includes specialist highways maintenance vehicles and refrigerated LCV rental through Blakedale and FridgeXpress and EV charging infrastructure for domestic and commercial solutions through ChargedEV.

Harvey Stead, chief operating officer for Redde Northgate UK and Ireland, said: The appointment of Neil McCrossan to managing director of the Northgate businesses is an important step in helping to facilitate our next phase of growth within the UK and Ireland.

“As an integral part of Northgate’s senior management and a member of the Redde Northgate general management board for many years, Neil’s experience, deep knowledge of the industry, and ability to oversee our extensive branch network and operations will allow him to help our business accelerate in the future.”

For more from Fleet News Hall of Famer Neil McCrossan, who was inaugurated to fleet's highest honour at the 2022 FN50 Dinner, click here. 

Fraikin fills two key managerial roles

Fraikin, has strengthened the team at its UK headquarters in Coventry, appointing Sam Jones as senior relationship manager and Simon Buckley as commercial pricing manager.

Jones (pictured above) joins the company fresh from eight years of service in the alcohol industry, where he held the title of wholesale key account manager at Budweiser Brewing Group UK & Ireland.

The newly created role at Fraikin focuses on growing its commercial client relationships within fleet management in the UK and developing solutions to support customers in optimising their fleets.

He said: “I cannot wait to start fully engaging with our clients and prospects and collaborating with our expert teams internally to deliver an unmatched level of service.”

Buckley (pictured below) has worked exclusively in the automotive industry since starting as an apprentice technician at BT Fleet in 2004.

He most recently worked as a national account manager for Rivus Fleet Solutions. His new role sees him tasked with working closely with various internal teams to create and deliver commercially sound pricing models to Fraikin customers.

He said: “My experience working both behind a desk and also on the workshop floor will no doubt come in handy, granting vital perspective and understanding on exactly what our clients need from us.”

Autotech Group announces new leadership structure including key appointments

Autotech Group has announced the formation of a dedicated executive level as the company moves into a new phase under the leadership of CEO, Simon King.

Mark Armitage, who initially joined the company last year as commercial director, becomes chief revenue officer, and Laurence Abbott, who moves from his position as marketing and technology director, has become Autotech Group’s chief technology officer and MD of Autotech Connect.

In preparation for further growth, Autotech Group has also strengthened its foundation with the creation of group and senior leadership teams, incorporating several new appointments.

Alongside King, Armitage and Abbott, the group leadership team includes Natalie Hodgson, who joins as marketing director, Faye Drage, previously the company’s HR director and now head of people, and former financial controller, Justin Ampofo, who has become finance director.

Dominic Hunter, who now adds company secretary to his title of group head of quality, completes the team.

The senior leadership team incorporates James Mackay and Alistair Macdonald, who become MD and sales and operations director of the company’s Recruit and Academy divisions respectively, and Alistair McCrindle, operations director for Autotech Training.

“Our new company structure has been in development for a significant period,” said King. “With four company divisions, the focus was on ensuring that the right people were in the right position to lead sustainable growth and I am delighted that so many of these appointments were made internally.

“We place a significant amount of value in our team, and I believe this sends a strong message to our shareholders and the wider industry that we have the best possible foundation in place to grow.”

To bridge the solutions and capabilities of Autotech Group’s four divisions, Recruit, Training, Academy, and Connect, a new business relationship team has also been created.

The three-strong team will consist of two new recruits, Barry Williams as business relationship director, and Colin Hankey as business relationship manager, while Gemma Edwards moves from her previous role of national careers manager at Autotech Academy to become business relationship manager encompassing the entire company.

Auxillis appoints new managing director

Mel Bebbington has been appointed managing director of claims management and mobility business, Auxillis.

Former claims operations director at Somerset Bridge and a non-executive Director at Southern Rock Insurance Company, Bebbington replaces Susan Howe who retires later this year.

Harvey Stead, Redde Northgate chief operating officer, said: “To ensure a smooth transition from the experienced hands of current MD Susan Howe, it was vital that we took time to make the right appointment and put in place a comprehensive shadowing and handover period - and crucially for Mel to meet our key partners”.

A period of Bebbington’s early career was spent with Albany Assistance the forerunner of Auxillis. She said: “Seeing just how much Auxillis has developed using technology has been remarkable. But it’s the hardworking colleagues delivering a full range of high quality services to motorists that’s most impressed me. I’m very excited to be taking up the reins of such a successful operation and look forward to leading the team.”   

Gary McLeod appointed head of commercial at Startline

Gary McLeod has been appointed to the newly-created role of head of commercial at Startline Motor Finance.

One of the company’s earliest employees, being recruited as underwriting manager in 2013, he has risen through a number of positions as the company has expanded.

He said: “To provide some idea of the scale of Startline’s development, we had 10 employees when I first started here and now have almost 200. It’s been quite a journey.

“I began looking after our commercial and introducer functions in 2015 and essentially, the role has grown with the company.

“The new head of commercial position brings a number of increased responsibilities, including shaping our reporting information and how it is used, deciding how the commercial team should be structured and the individual responsibilities of each person, and developing new introducer relationships.

“Startline is continuing to grow at a pace and I’m looking forward to playing my part in supporting our future evolution.”

A graduate of Edinburgh Napier University, he worked for a number of motor finance companies before joining Startline including Lloyds UDT, GE Capital Woodchester and Fortis Lease.

He also held a number of risk and relationship management positions for Lloyds Banking Group.      

Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline, said: “Gary has been an invaluable member of the Startline team since almost the very beginning and we are very pleased to see him move into this new position, which will make the most of his skills and support our future goals.”