Nigel Stead, the man who oversaw the creation
of the UK’s biggest fleet business, is to step down from his role
at the head of Lex Autolease next June.
He will be succeeded by operations director
Rick Francis, who had been commercial director of Lex Vehicle
Leasing before the merger of its parent bank HBOS with Lloyds
Banking Group (LBG) at the start of 2009.
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Stead, currently LBG’s director of contract
hire, has led the bank’s car leasing arm through several
acquisitions since he joined it as Black Horse Vehicle Management
in 2000.
His first M&A milestones were the
integrations of ACL Autolease and First National Vehicle Holdings,
moves which led to the creation of Lloyds TSB Autolease.
Then, 2009 brought the forced absorption of
Lex Vehicle Leasing, a task that brought together the two biggest
fleet companies in the market to create a giant with more than
330,000 vehicles on its book.
Although the merging of the two companies is
almost complete, its last stage – mainly the transferral of
customers between CRM systems – will be completed as responsibility
for the business is transferred between Stead and Francis at the
end of this year.
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By GlobalDataDavid Oldfield, LBG’s wholesale division COO and managing
director for asset finance, commented: “Nigel has done a terrific
job leading our contract hire businesses in its various guises over
many years, including the tremendous task of leading the
integration of Lex Autolease.
“I wish him all the very best for the future, but we are also
delighted to have Rick taking over as managing director. We have
every confidence that he will continue the good work Nigel has
started in driving Lex Autolease forward and helping the business
flourish.”
Stead says: “Next year will sadly be my last, but this is an
entirely personal decision, made after much thought and soul
searching. It’s gratifying to leave the business in the hands of a
talented, devoted and highly experienced team, led by a very worthy
successor in Rick.”
