André Lacroix
Group Chief Executive
André joined the Group as Group Chief Executive Designate on 1 September 2005 before becoming Group Chief Executive on 1 January 2006. André is Chairman of Good Restaurants AG and a Non-Executive Director of Reckitt Benckiser Group plc. He was previously Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Euro Disney S.C.A. Prior to this he was the President of Burger King International, previously part of Diageo.
John McConnell
Group Finance Director
John was appointed as Group Finance Director of Inchcape plc in October 2009, having worked with the Group since 1999. John joined Inchcape Australasia as Chief Financial Officer before moving to the role of Chief Executive Officer of Australasia. Prior to joining Inchcape he worked with Reckitt and Colman (now Reckitt Benckiser) for 13 years in a variety of senior financial roles in the UK, Germany and Australia.
Aris Aravanis
Chairman & MD Toyota Hellas
During his tenure with Inchcape, Aris has led the establishment and development of Tefin, a finance company that was constituted by Toyota Hellas and EFG Eurobank, to the top of the automotive financing market in Greece. In February 2000, Aris assumed the position of General Manager of Toyota Hellas and then became Deputy Managing Director and member of the Board of Directors. During his service, Toyota has established solid and clear leadership in the Greek Market.
Before joining Toyota Hellas and Inchcape, Aris had extensive experience in the finance field working in various sectors including the food industry, electric cable and banking.
George Ashford
CEO Toyota Belgium
George joined Inchcape in March 2006 as Director of Implementation, Inchcape Advantage. In this role George led the implementation of Inchcape Advantage, a company wide strategic programme putting the customer at the heart of the Group’s service initiatives. In October 2006, George was appointed Managing Director European Retail. In this role he led the implementation of world class retail operation programmes across the European retail network. He was also responsible for the integration of businesses acquired in the Baltics and the construction and opening of four greenfield operations in eastern Europe. George was appointed as Chief Executive Officer Toyota
Belgium in July 2009.
George joined Inchcape from Yum Restaurants International (previously Pepsi Restaurants International), where he spent 10 years holding several senior management positions.
Dale Butcher
Group Development Director
Dale joined Inchcape in 1986 and has been involved in numerous restructuring and reorganisation projects as the Group rationalised its portfolio, and in all acquisitions and disposals since Inchcape became an automotive only Group. Prior to joining Inchcape, Dale worked for British Timken as a financial analyst from November 1980 to 1982 before joining Alghanim Industries in Kuwait as a financial controller, where he worked in their motors and construction divisions. Dale is a member of the London CBI council and is a Freeman of the City of London.
Claire Chapman
General Counsel and Group Company Secretary
Claire joined Inchcape in March 2007 and is responsible for the Group's legal and compliance programmes, mergers and acquisitions, major contracts, corporate projects and restructurings and effective corporate governance and Board management.
Claire was formerly a solicitor at Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer from 1991 to 1995 before joining the legal team at the Reuters Group PLC from 1995 to 2007. Claire held various roles whilst at Reuters, working for their UK, European and US businesses. She was General Counsel for the UK from 2000 to 2003 and General Counsel for Europe, Middle East and Africa from 2004 to 2007, advising on a range of matters from major commercial and IT contracts, global projects, integration and key corporate projects. Additionally she advised on company secretariat matters from 2004 to 2007.
Claire is a qualified solicitor for England and Wales and Attorney, New York and has a Masters in International Law.
Tony George
Group HR Director
Tony joined the Group in February 2007. He has over 22 years of experience in Human Resources and General Management in International FMCG, chemicals, telecommunications and customer service oriented retail companies. In his previous role he was HR Director, Corporate Functions for Vodafone plc and prior to that, SVP International Partner Resources for Starbucks Coffee Company based in the US. He has also worked with ICI in India and Diageo plc where, at the time of the formation of the Company, he was the first Global Management Development Director UDV in the UK and latterly was the SVP International HR for the Burger King business. During his career Tony has lived and worked in India, UK, USA and Australia.
Jean Van der hasselt
CEO Russia and the Nordics
Jean joined Inchcape in 2003 as Chief Executive Officer of Toyota Belgium, having been in the automotive industry since 1985. During this tenure the network has been successfully restructured, leading to fewer and better retailers whilst improving market share and maximising the profitability for Toyota Belgium. The successful run out campaign of Toyota’s best selling model in 2006 led to an overall best market share performance. In 2010, Jean was appointed to CEO Russia and the Nordics and has responsibility for our Russian and Nordic operations that include Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania businesses.
Prior to Inchcape, Jean held several Director positions within the Volvo organisation and was Managing Director for the Volvo Cars operations in Belgium, actively contributing to the set up of the PAG structure, leading to effective synergies within Ford’s luxury brand cluster.
Koh Ching Hong
Managing Director, Inchcape South Asia
Ching Hong joined Borneo Motors as its Managing Director in January 2008. He was appointed as Managing Director, Inchcape South Asia in August 2009 and is responsible for Borneo Motors and Champion Motors in Singapore and NBT in Brunei. Prior to joining the Group, Ching Hong was Managing Director of Fuji Xerox Singapore, an Executive member of the Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific Senior Management from 1996 to 2008. In these roles he led the transformation and restructuring of its business model and business approach, thereby increasing market share, doubling revenue and leading the organisation into the prestigious Singapore Quality Class, achieving a high customer satisfaction index.
Ken Lee
Group Communications Director
Ken joined Inchcape Retail as Marketing Director in September 2003, where he led the development of a pioneering customer experience programme. In early 2006 he was appointed Customer Strategy Director to lead the Group wide identification of customer insights to drive the company’s Inchcape Advantage programme. In late 2006 he was appointed to the Executive Committee as Group Communications Director with responsibility for Group wide internal and external communications.
Prior to joining Inchcape, Ken held the position of Group Marketing Director at the RAC from 1999 to 2003 and was part of the team that acquired and then led the business post demutualisation. During his tenure the company moved from a car breakdown organisation to a customer focused motoring services group. Before joining the RAC, Ken worked for Lex Service plc, where as Marketing Director he successfully established the Hyundai brand in the UK.
Patrick S Lee
Managing Director – Inchcape North Asia
Patrick is in charge of our VIR operations in Hong Kong, Macau and Guam. Representing Toyota in all three markets, Toyota has maintained the No.1 position for several years. He is also responsible for Inchcape's operations in China. Before joining Inchcape, Patrick was the Group General Manager, Sales and Marketing of Kerry Beverages Ltd from 1998 to 2006. Kerry Beverages owned and operated 11 Coca-Cola bottling plants in China. Patrick’s experience in auto retailing came from a Toronto Honda dealership where he worked for three years and was awarded the highest honour “Sales Master” by Honda Canada for two consecutive years. Patrick started his career in brand marketing with Procter & Gamble and has worked in various locations including Canada, Switzerland, Thailand and Hong Kong. Patrick holds a BBA and an MBA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Spencer Lock
CEO Inchcape Australasia
Spencer joined Inchcape in 1998 and has held various senior operational roles within the UK Retail business, culminating in his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Inchcape Retail in 2007. Spencer has been responsible for the development of the premium brand core partner strategy and the acquisition and integration of both European Motor Holdings and Lind Automotive Group. In November 2009, Spencer was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Inchcape Australasia.
Prior to joining Inchcape, Spencer was responsible for franchise development in Nissan GB and previously worked for Ford Motor Company.
Bertrand Mallet
MD Emerging Markets and Group Strategy Director
Bertrand is responsible for the Emerging Markets region, encompassing all of our retail and distribution activities in Poland the Balkans, South America and Africa businesses. He oversees both current operations and the definition of our future expansion plans in these markets. He also serves as the Group Strategy Director, a role in which he manages the Corporate Strategic Planning process and key strategic projects for the Group.
Before joining Inchcape, Bertrand spent over six years with Euro Disney in both Strategy and Sales roles, most recently as Managing Director for the French market. During his tenure, a new sales and marketing approach was defined and implemented. Prior to Euro Disney, he spent five years as a senior consultant with Bain and Company, both in France and in the US. His main areas of focus were around retail and distribution. Bertrand began his career in Sales and Marketing with Automobiles Peugeot in Sweden.
Connor McCormack
CEO Inchcape UK
Connor has been with the Group since July 2005, having initially joined Inchcape as Finance Director UK Retail. Connor has led the business through the acquisitions and integrations of the Lind Automotive Group and European Motor Holdings, as well as playing an instrumental part in the right sizing of the UK business in the second half of 2008, as the global economy entered the downturn. Connor was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the UK business in November 2009.
Prior to Inchcape, Connor held senior positions with B&Q plc, Kingfisher plc, the L'Oreal Group and the Gillette Company.
