- Alan M Caffyn DL C ENG MI MechE FIMI - Honorary President
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Directors
S Brian Birkenhead BSc (Hons) FCMA FID (70) - Chairman
Brian joined the Board on 1 January 2004 and was appointed Chairman on 8 August 2008 on the retirement of Mr Carte. He is currently Chairman of Trustees at Serco Pension Schemes. Previously, he has been a non-executive director of a number of public and private companies, was the Group Finance Director of National Power plc from 1988 to 1996 and from 1995 to 1997 was Chairman of the Hundred Group of Finance Directors.Simon G M Caffyn MA FIMI (51) - Chief Executive
Simon joined the Board on 16 July 1992 and was appointed Chief Executive on 1 May 1998. He graduated from Cambridge in 1983 having read engineering, and subsequently worked for Andersen Consulting. He joined the company in 1990.
Mark S Harrison FCA FIMI (58) - Finance Director
Mark joined the Board on 17th April 2000. A Chartered Accountant, he was previously Finance Director of two other listed companies. Having qualified with Grant Thornton, he joined KPMG. Subsequent commercial appointments were in the property, retail and distribution sectors.Sarah J Caffyn BSc (Hons) FCIPD AICSA FIMI (42) - Human Resources Director
Sarah joined the Board on 28 April 2003 as Human Resources Director. She joined the Company on 27 April 1998 as Group Personnel Manager and was appointed Company Secretary in 1999. A Chartered Company Secretary, she was previously an HR Manager at St Mary’s NHS Trust, PaddingtonGuy Ainsley (46) - Operations Director
Guy joined the Company in September 2009 as Operations Director, further strengthening our management team, and brings extensive experience in the motor industry having held senior management positions with Nissan and Inchcape UK. Guy has an MBA from Henley Management College and is a Chartered Director. Guy joined the Board on 25 November 2009.
Andrew R Goodburn FCA (65) - Senior Independent Non-Executive
Andrew joined the Board on 1 February 2004. He was Finance Director of Ricardo plc until 31 December 2006 at which date he retired, having formerly spent 11 years in various financial and commercial roles within the Bowthorpe Group, followed by 13 years in management consulting before joining Ricardo in 1993.Nick W Hollingworth BSc (59) - Independent Non-Executive
Nick joined the Board on 1 March 2008. He graduated from Birmingham University in 1973 having read chemistry. He is currently Group Chief Executive of Austin Reed Group Limited, formerly Austin Reed plc which de-listed from the London Stock Exchange in January 2007, having formerly held senior management roles within Arcadia Group plc, Etam plc and The Burton Group plc.
Richard Wright (66) - Independent Non-Executive
Richard joined the Board on 1 November 2011. He has previously held senior executive roles with the Ford Motor Company including Director, European Operations at Jaguar Cars Limited, Director of Sales, Ford Motor Company Limited and President/Managing Director of Ford Belgium NV. He is currently Chairman of API Group plc and is on the Advisory Board of Warwick Business School, University of Warwick. He is the former Chair of the Board of National Savings and Investments.
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The Board
The board is responsible for approving the group’s policy and strategy. It meets at least eight times per year and has a schedule of matters specifically reserved to it for decision (such as approval of published financial information, major capital expenditure and acquisitions and disposals). The board reviews the strategic direction of individual trading businesses, their annual budgets and their progress towards achievement of those budgets. The board has overall responsibility for corporate governance and policy matters affecting the company’s stakeholders, the group’s system of internal control, including financial control, and risk management. It also oversees the group’s record on health and safety and environmental matters. In the year ended 31 March 2009 the board met on eleven occasions at which all directors participated apart from Mr B A Carte who did not attend two meetings due to ill health and Miss S J Caffyn who did not attend nine meetings while on maternity leave. Management supply the board with appropriate and timely information and the directors are free to seek any further information they consider necessary. All directors have access to advice from the company secretary and independent professionals at the company’s expense. Training is available for new directors and other directors as necessary and new directors are also subject to a formal induction process. The board consists of the chairman, three executive directors who hold the key operational positions in the company, and two other non-executive directors who bring a breadth of relevant experience and knowledge. The non-executive directors are independent of management and any significant business or other relationship which could interfere with the exercise of their independent judgement. This provides a balance whereby an individual or small group cannot dominate the board’s decision making. The chairman of the board is Mr S B Birkenhead who is responsible for running the board. The board is responsible to shareholders for the overall direction and control of the company, and the company’s chief executive, Mr S G M Caffyn, is responsible to the board for management of the company within parameters set by the board. The board has named Mr A R Goodburn as the senior independent non-executive director and Mr N W Hollingworth is also an independent non-executive director. All directors are subject to re-election every three years and, on appointment, at the first AGM after appointment.
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Management Team
The management team comprises the Chief Executive, the Finance Director, the Operations Director and the Human Resources Director, together with four Regional Directors:
Regional Directors Robert L Bradbury
Christopher Fullalove FIMI
Tony Richards FMAAT FIMI
Nigel C Wells FIMI
Company Secretary Sarah J Caffyn BSc (Hons) FCIPD AICSA FIMI Registered Office Saffrons Rooms, Meads Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN20 7DR
Telephone (01323) 730201