Yodel has announced the appointment of a new strategic client director and out of home director.

Jo Hyland joins Yodel as a strategic client director having previously worked in client management roles at Metapack, Whistl and Evri (formerly Hermes).

She will be responsible for supporting the development of stakeholder relationships between The Very Group and Yodel.

Hyland has more than 20 years’ experience working alongside ecommerce and retail businesses, such as Pets at Home and Asda, to foster operations with delivery partners.

Liam Rogan has taken on the role of out of home director, having first joined Yodel in 2019 as regional manager.

Yodel said Rogan will be responsible for defining and delivering Yodel’s Out of Home proposition as the business looks to increase deliveries and returns to stores, or other out of home locations.

He brings almost 20 years of operational and commercial experience, starting his career with UPS on its graduate scheme and working his way up to senior positions before spending seven years at DPD.

Sam Holden, chief commercial officer at Yodel, said: “The last few years have seen a dramatic growth in our business as ecommerce boomed. The result for Yodel has been profound, with us achieving our first year of profit in 2021.

“At the core of this success has been our people and Jo and Liam’s appointments reinforce our commitment to bringing in the best talent.

“With Jo providing support and expertise to The Very Group, we can continue to foster that relationship, and as Liam moves into his new position, we can channel the focus on our out of home service offering, driving Yodel to continued success.”

Nexus appoints new finance director

Nexus Vehicle Rental has appointed Alex Cook as finance director. 

His promotion from the role of head of commercial finance sees him lead Nexus’ finance function. 

He also joins managing director John Ellis, Ian Cherry, who moves to the role of finance board advisor, and David Brennan, executive chairman, in the business’ executive team.

Cook began his career with Ernst and Young in its TAS team before moving to the commercial finance team at Asda, where he carried out several roles during his eight years at the company.

David Brennan, executive chairman at Nexus, said: “Following another year of strong growth for Nexus in a challenging marketplace I am thrilled to see Alex promoted into the role of finance director.

“His experience and expertise bolster our strong management team, reflecting the continuous evolution of our business and the desire to promote our talent wherever we can.”

Paragon Bank appoints new commercial vehicle dealer finance manager

Paragon Bank has appointed Yolande Eastwood as commercial vehicle dealer finance manager, responsible for managing the South of England and Wales regions.

Yolanda’s appointment will see Paragon seeking new and used HGV and LCV dealerships, whilst maintaining relationships, the company said.

The role combines supporting and developing funding options, supporting dealers to sell more units.

Eastwood will report to Dale Trenam, head of transport at Paragon SME Lending. He said: “I’m delighted to welcome Yolande into our transport team. Yolande specialises in business development and account growth in the commercial vehicle dealership world.

“Our dealer finance strategy has been well received in the market after its launch in January, with several new major dealer group agreements now in place from a standing start.

“There’s a real opportunity for growth over the next few years, with Yolande at the helm in the South of England and Wales.”

Aldermore announces new appointment in asset finance team

Aldermore bank has appointed David Hughes as business development manager in its asset finance team.

Hughes joins James Harrowsmith, appointed in January 2022, in “building out” Aldermore’s offering in fleet funding, with financing solutions for both back-to-back and agency lending across a range of wheeled assets.

Hughes has 26 years’ experience in the asset management and commercial banking environment.

His career has mainly been spent at Barclays providing structured asset finance solutions to middle and large corporate clients across a range of assets, with a specialism in fleet financing solutions.

Dean Spencer, head of specialist car and transportation at Aldermore, said: “I’m delighted to welcome David to the team. He brings a wealth of experience to the team at an exciting time as we focus on building our fleet funding proposition and expertise.”

Solomon promotes Kieren Taylor to head of operations

Solomon Commercials has promoted Kieran Taylor to head of operations, where he will oversee the company’s manufacturing and business operations.

Taylor, previously the company’s head of aftersales, has been with the business for 11 years and has more than 20 years in the automotive engineering industry, having worked at Allied Coach Bodies and Mellor Bus.

Anthony Clegg, sales director at Solomon, said: “Kieran is an asset to the company, and it’s good to see him progress within the business. The head of operations is a key role at Solomons and we’re extremely confident he’ll succeed in it.”

RAW Charging appoints new leadership team members

RAW Charging has announced new leadership team member appointments.

Previously at Ground Control, Andy Gray has been appointed general manager, Steve Holmes who joins from Clarke EV as programme director and Paul Booth has been appointed business development director coming from Shell Ubitricity.

Also joining the wider team is Helen Masters from EB Charging and Nash Ansar also from Shell Ubitricity.

Bruce Galliford, chief executive officer at RAW Charging, said: “We are delighted to have Andy, Steve, Paul, Helen and Nash joining the team at RAW.

“Their expertise will help us as we look to continue providing destination charging across the UK.

"We are at an exciting time in our growth trajectory as we rapidly scale-up to provide a once in a generation EV charging opportunity.”

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