Mark Hutchins, who first joined the organisation in September 2015 as its new business manager, has been promoted from the network's head of commercial to operations director. Rob Pugh, who in March last year was appointed head of corporate clients, has been appointed as the network's new commercial director with both directorships being created for the pair. In addition, Grace Weddell has been elevated from communications manager to head of brand and communications.
The Operations team has further developed with the appointment of two new network managers – Michelle Hudson and Kathryn Tomlinson – whose primary roles will be to facilitate efficient deployment of vehicles liaising with franchise partners and customers where required. The network is also actively looking to further strengthen its division with the appointment of two additional regional business managers by the spring, both of which report into Mark Hutchins.
The network has also re-branded its corporate clients division which will now be known as client relationships, to reflect the department's outlook and goals with the network's key insurer work providers. The team has grown with the appointments of Visham Joshi and Kirsty Blake who take up commercial manager and client relationship manager roles respectively with immediate effect, reporting into Rob Pugh.
Fix Auto UK's finance department is also being strengthened with Khilan Parmar joining as accounts assistant, reporting into management accountant Puri Odedra, an appointment that takes the Fix Auto UK head office team to 41.
Ian said: "Fix Auto UK is growing at a phenomenal pace, a pace only matched by the industry itself, and we are consistently investing in our head office infrastructure as we look to further support both our franchise partners and our insurer clients. Mark Hutchins has been fundamental to that growth. He has been my right-hand man now for nearly three years and has been integral to our continued success. Since Rob was appointed as head of corporate clients, we have witnessed an accelerated gain in work provision within his first 12 months than at any other period in the last decade. Creating their respective Directorships reflects that tireless work as we look towards our future."
He added: "As we start 2023, we have made five significant appointments, investments I feel are so needed to maintain our industry-leading levels of service and while they're the first of the year, they certainly will not be the last, especially as we're looking to further strengthen our regional business management team who are out there in the field supporting our repairers."