Our Team
Since our establishment in 2006 we have been continually growing in order to meet and exceed the growing expectation and demand of our client base. Because of this apd now has a fantastic team with a great combination of skill and expertise in the automotive industry.
apd has 3 dedicated departments with specified roles thats allows us to extract the most out of our potential and enables us to provide a better service for our customers.
Senior Management
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 | Jim Tyrrell - Group Chief ExecutiveJim Tyrrell has twenty five years experience in the Auto industry. He joined Ford Motor Company in 1985 after studying Modern Languages at Durham University. During fifteen years with Ford, Jim held a number of positions in Sales, Marketing and Aftersales, including: Manager Service Marketing, Ford of Britain; Field Operations Manager, Ford of Britain; Marketing Manager Ford of Britain and Director of CRM and New Media, Ford of Europe. Following this, Jim was Marketing Director, Mazda Mtors Europe. In 1991 Jim completed an MBA at INSEAD Busines School, Fontainebleau, France In 2000, Jim took over as Managing Director of Mitsubishi Motors UK. In that role Jim oversaw the turnaround of the business from heavy loses into significant profit and dramatic sales growth. Following the sale of the business to Mitsubishi Corporation in late 2008, Jim stepped down from the position of Managing Director in 2009. He has subsequently made a number of investments, including a majority stake in the apd Group. Jim is also involved with the specialist automotive headhunter Edward Drummond-Jackson. www.edwarddrummond.com |
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| Derek Knight - Managing Director, Business Management DivisionDerek entered the motor industry in 1976, working in the contract hire industry before joining Renault UK as a Regional Fleet Consultant. His 10 years at Renault provided a wealth of experience of the operational running of a dealership through working as a Zone Sales Manager and other “hands on” roles, finally returning to his roots in accountancy when he took on the role of National Franchising Manager. This role involved the restructure of the entire dealer network, recruitment and setting up an average of 20 new businesses each year. After leaving Renault, Derek joined the much-respected Mitac organisation, later acquired by R L Polk, firstly as a Business Management Consultant providing dealership financial management training and consultancy services to OEMs and their dealer networks. He was latterly Director, Business Management Services, responsible for the growth of the company’s composite, business planning and training and consultancy businesses. Together with Paul Turner, Derek founded apd business management following the withdrawal of R L Polk from the Business Management area of their business. |
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| Barry Crisp - Director of Technology and Operations, Business Management DivisionBarry has over 11 years experience in project managing the development of global composite systems across multiple international automotive manufacturers. Development encompasses a wide range of disciplines from total system design and construction through to individual, bespoke report customizations. Working with colleagues and clients alike, Barry’s in-depth understanding of the technical and commercial requirements of the composite process continues to prove invaluable in the Business Management division of apd. Initially from an accounting background, the majority of Barry’s career has been spent working within automotive consultancies in the Business Management field and he has been the leading figure in numerous composite system platform migrations and developments. Barry's role in apd is to manage the development of our products to ensure that apd deliver market-leading Busines Management products and services to all our clients. |
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| Paul Turner - Managing Director, Research and DevelopmentPaul has held various senior positions within the automotive retail, manufacturing and leasing sectors since 1982. Prior to this, he qualified as a Fellow of the Gemmological Association whilst working for De Beers in the diamond industry, and holds diplomas from the NAG and CFH Institutes, Lausanne, in sales, marketing, training and retailing. In his 28 years in the automative sector, paul gained experience within the franchise network and with vehicle manufacturers. Until the formation of apd, Paul spent ten years with Mitac, one of Europe's largest consultancy companies. After Mitac became part of R.L Polk in 2001, Paul completed management buy-out of their leasing sector research division to form alchemy performance development ltd (apd) in 2003. Since the MBO, Paul has worked closely with major independent and manufacturer leasing compnaies to continue development of the leading customer satisfaction and sector intelligence programmes such as Landmark, CSI, fleetrax, brandtrax, and the award-winning 360osi programme. Paul's experience and knolwedge of the whole automotive sector, but, in particular, contract hirle and leasing, is unique in the motor industry. |
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| Andrew Skelhorn - Director, Research and Development DivisionAndrew has more than 20 years of research and analysis, backed by a doctorate in Politics and International Relations, as well as publications in industrial archaeology, transport and travel. Prior to joining apd, Andrew gained extensive experience in international market research, analysis and documentation, multimedia, competitor intelligence, interim management and training development whilst with leading global automotive consultancy, R.L. Polk Mitac Ltd. He has worked with all of the leading automotive manufacturers and a wide range of leasing companies, combining extensive fieldwork, research and reporting. The production and continuous development of the Landmark Customer Satisfaction Surveys initially provided the background to his role at apd, now supplanted with a wide range of other bespoke web-centric surveys, customer research and analysis. Presentation is also a key area of expertise, with multimedia productions, which have been specifically developed as integral parts of programmes tailored to specific results in training, marketing and assessment. |
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Monica Jackson- Head of Recruitment, Business Management Division
Monica Jackson studied Modern Languages at Cambridge University and subsequently worked in the City of London at Fuji Bank for ten years, rising to the position of Head of European Credit Risk Research. For the past ten years, Monica has been Senior Research Manager for Courland Automotive, a leading global automotive recruitment firm. Monica lives in Cheltenham and is married with two young children. Monica brings a wealth of experience in the recruitment sector to ensure that apd employs only the best for the roles available.
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Monica Jackson- Head of Recruitment, Business Management Division
Monica Jackson studied Modern Languages at Cambridge University and subsequently worked in the City of London at Fuji Bank for ten years, rising to the position of Head of European Credit Risk Research. For the past ten years, Monica has been Senior Research Manager for Courland Automotive, a leading global automotive recruitment firm. Monica lives in Cheltenham and is married with two young children. Monica brings a wealth of experience in the recruitment sector to ensure that apd employs only the best for the roles available.
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Development, Production & Support Team
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 | Jonno Francis - Development Manager, Business Management DivisionWith a background in economics and accounting, Jonno has spent a number of years gaining experience in both general accounting and financial composites. Much of this time was spent as a Management Information Analyst working within the Mitac Business Management department, where he gained strong and invaluable experience in managing and developing composite systems for a number of international automotive clients. Jonno contributes greatly to the innovative and creative philosophy which is core to apd. His approach is to apply an analytical mind, with meticulous attention to detail, in order to exceed clients’ needs in delivering market-leading Business Management products and services. Jonno’s role includes project managing the initial and on-going development of composite systems, managing every aspect of the composite production and publication process, ensuring consistent, timely and accurate delivery to all our clients. Jonno is also actively involved in the design and specification of new apd products across the group |
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 | Matt Tydeman - Production & Support Leader, Business Management DivisionMatthew brings to apd 9 years of Customer Services experience within a number of business sectors (both commercial and financial). His 4 years prior to joining apd were spent gaining experience in report writing and analysis within a large multi-national production and distribution organisation, his main clients including BT and Universal Pictures. Since joining apd in 2009 his key responsibilities have included composite support, production and publication for all of our UK and Australia based automotive clients. This experience contributes considerably to his role of overseeing the production and support provided by the composite team to ensure an efficient and accurate composite delivery service. |
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| Dan Williams - Data Analyst, Business Management DivisionDan, a Computer Science graduate, joined apd in 2010 from a Business Process Outsourcing company working on behalf of a major UK energy supplier. Bringing his experience of Data Analysis and Reporting in the fields of Property Sustainability and Energy Management, Dan has quickly transferred these skills into developing composite reporting models for some of our biggest and most complex automotive clients. As part of the front line technical support team, Dan’s detailed knowledge of the system contributes greatly to the smooth running of our systems across our user base. Dan is responsible for the smooth running of composite development and support for a number of key clients in the UK and Europe. |
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Ben Lyon - Data Analyst, Business Management DivisionBen joined apd in 2011 after graduating from Southampton Solent University with 2 qualifications including a 1st Class Honours and a Higher National Diploma in Business Information Systems. Ben specialised in Business and Data Analysis techniques and has quickly transferred these skills into apd’s composite development and production team. Ben is responsible for the smooth running of composite production, support and development for a number of key clients in the UK and Europe as well as being part of our front line technical support team which assists our clients in extracting the most out of our iCIS system. |
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Richard Mclaughin - Development Analyst, Business Management Division Richard spent 11 years as a Database Administrator and Network Engineer with Siemens VDO and Mix Telematics who were the leading service providers of real time vehicle tracking systems providing Asset Management and Fleet Management systems to transport industry. Working on the development, implementation and on-going operation of the Datatrak System and Tachograph Internet Service. Before that he spent 12 years as an engineer for Remsdaq supporting integrated command and control systems for Fire Services in the UK. |
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 | Aleksandra Ciurzynska - Data Analyst, Business Management DivisionFluent in three major European languages, with a Master Degree in Linguistics and two years as Senior Analyst within Deutsche Bank, Aleks brings a wealth of expertise to apd specializing in data analysis and support within our composite production team, responsible for a number of major clients across Europe. Aleks experience and language skills contribute significantly to our high quality service levels across our UK and European clients and users. |
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Commercial Consultancy Team
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 | Nick Gane - Head of Business Planning, Business Management DivisionNick has been involved in the financial accounting area of the motor industry for more than twenty years at dealer, OEM and service/consultancy level. His roles have included Ford Main Dealer Accountant, Business Management Advisor with Citroen UK and Product Manager with responsibility for developing, marketing, training and supporting business planning products across a number of automotive franchises. Nick’s “grass roots” experience means that results are gained through having a sound proactive commercial approach with a full understanding of business accounting and business management within the automotive industry environment. He is a highly organized, highly motivated individual who is able to demonstrate total commitment, energy and enthusiasm in all aspects of business management, by using in-depth knowledge and experience gained in a commercial environment. As Head of Planning Services, Nick’s key responsibility at apd is the development and successful implementation through both training and consultancy of our range of business planning tools, ViabilityViewer, and ProfitPlanner software. Like us all at apd, Nick loves to get involved with our clients working globally on the many and varied dealer development projects. |
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 | David Moore - Head of Commercial Services, Business Management DivisionDavid has been associated with the motor trade since leaving school initially serving his apprenticeship and moving through departments in a managerial capacity before becoming a general manager at the age of 28. During his career he has worked with several franchises successfully running single companies and small groups for both private and public companies, towards the later stages for Swan National & the Lex Motor Group. |
 | Brian Green - Head of Training & Consultancy, Business Management DivisionBrian has over 30 years experience in the motor trade, 18 of which have been spent in Business Management in different positions, with first hand experience of working for OEMs including Peugeot and FIAT. During his time with OEMs, Brian spent 7 years dedicated to Business Management, including dealer viability plans, new dealer appointments and the development of composites. Brian gained much relevant experience of dealing with senior management within the motor trade in his latter position of Regional Director at Peugeot for 6 years in the North of England. On the retail side, further operational experience was accumulated as Operations Manager controlling a retail motor group in the north west, following which Brian moved into consultancy, where he has spent 11 years dedicated solely to Business Management consultancy and training including Oslo Ford, Nissan Dealer Development, Jaguar Overseas Training, business development workshops and Business Management training. Brian brings this wealth of experience to apd, where it is put to use working with our OEM composite clients and their dealers to get behind the numbers and make real performance improvement. |
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 | Peter Alcock- Business Planning Manager, Business Management DivisionA Business Management Consultant/Trainer with the specialist area of used car business development/coaching. Has extensive global experience within the fields of strategic planning, business analysis, used car development and Training. Responsible for providing market suitability studies and strategies, from inception to the successful launch and development of Pre-Owned/Approved Used Car programmes including Business Management and Planning, Train the Trainer and Training programmes across many global markets for international motor manufacturers.
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