Speakers

Anthony Hilton is Financial Editor of the Evening Standard and a Wincott Financial Journalist of the Year. An author, broadcaster and lecturer, he has also served as a non-executive Director of insurance and publishing companies.

Joining Fleet Street as a trainee on the Guardian, Anthony served in New York as Business Correspondent for the London Sunday Times and City Editor of The Times before joining the Standard.

Anthony makes regular television and radio appearances, commenting on the international money markets and the state of the economy. He also assesses the outlook for investments, the pensions crisis and corporate governance.

Andrew is Head of Geldards’ Corporate team and also leads the firm’s corporate and banking automotive group.
He has over 21 years’ experience in advising clients in the automotive sector on acquisitions, disposals restructuring, joint ventures and refinancing.

Andrew ‘cut his teeth’ acting for clients such as Pendragon, from their creation in the late 80’s, flotation in 1989 and to the present day. Together with the team, Andrew advises a large number of well known motor retailers of all sizes from single site operators to large multi-site dealership groups. He also advises on cross border acquisitions and disposals, an increasingly important area in today’s marketplace.

After leaving University, Andrew spent some time with one of the largest national law firms working out of Birmingham, followed by studying at Warsaw University and working in Central and Eastern Europe. Andrew continues to travel widely and in his spare time pursues a keen interest in sport. He has acted on the sale and purchase of a number of football clubs, and recently Hull FC rugby league football club, where he is a non-executive board Director.

Jon is a Partner in Geldards' Dispute Resolution department and is also joint head of its Motor Retail Team.

With over 10 years' experience in the sector, Jon specialises in all aspects of commercial arbitration, mediation and expert determination as well as litigation conducted by or against major companies or businesses in the County and High Courts nationwide.

Jon frequently advises motor retail clients in dispute over commercial contracts, the sale & supply of goods, product liability issues, warranties, reputation management, the termination of Distribution Agreements in respect of both sales and aftersales as well as regulatory issues by local authorities, Trading Standards and the Environment Agency.

Jon also pursues or defends applications for injunctive relief to protect confidential sales and technical information and enforce post-termination of employment restrictions.

Priding himself on combining a robust technical approach with commercial awareness which is both results-driven and cost effective, Legal 500 (2009) describe Jon as one who "particularly impresses...", one client remarking that he left "no stone unturned in protecting our position".

Jon regularly leads seminars and training sessions on legal matters affecting automotive sector operations for both dealer groups and manufacturers alike.

Paul operates exclusively in the automotive sector, and has built up over fifteen years experience. He specialises in change management and has been the adviser to a number of transactions within the sector. He is well known speaker at major industry events and is responsible for Grant Thornton's regular output for the AM 100 tables, the leading indicator of up to date performance within the motor retail sector. Paul also provides support to Grant Thornton's substantial motor retail client base.

Daniel is an automotive restructuring partner at Grant Thornton with over twelve year’s sector experience.  His main focus is on advising funders and stakeholders of stressed and underperforming businesses in the motor retail sector and the automotive supply chain.

He works closely with manufacturers and NSCs in developing an understanding of dealer risk, and the importance of cash and balance sheet management, and has delivered a range of training in this area. 

Daniel also advises dealer groups directly in terms of financial strategy, management and performance improvement.  Whilst historically UK focused, the role has taken on an increasingly international flavour in recent years, working with NSCs and dealers throughout Europe.

After an early career in strategic marketing in the car and consumer-durable industries, John joined Professor Dan Jones at the Lean Enterprise Research Centre at Cardiff Business School in 1994 as the Senior Researcher and subsequently Director for the ICDP (International Car Distribution Programme). ICDP was co-founded by Dan Jones and set up not only to study the future directions for car distribution, retailing and after sales but also to investigate how Lean principles could be applied to all the activities ‘downstream of the factory gate’.

From 1994 to 2007 John led ICDP's research in various areas including After-Sales, Parts Supply Systems, Used Cars, Business Cars, Dealer Standards and Lean Dealer Processes and participated in all its other research projects including studies of New Car Supply and Stocking. His work with ICDP included hundreds of in-depth research interviews with executives in dealers, manufacturers and suppliers all of which have contributed to his considerable knowledge of car distribution.

John has given papers at numerous ICDP conferences, academic conferences and other motor industry manufacturer and dealer meetings across Europe. His papers have been published both by ICDP and in academic journals. He has also delivered courses to dealers at Cardiff University Business School, the Catholic University, Lisbon, and for ICDP Australia. He has chaired numerous industry conferences in the UK, contributed to the UK Government’s Automotive Innovation and Growth Team Report and co-chaired its Working Group on Car Servicing and Repair Standards.

In addition to his work with ICDP, John has also carried out numerous individual client research and advisory projects including a series of projects since 2000 in various European countries enabling car dealers to implement Lean principles in their businesses. This experience has led him to co-author a workbook with David Brunt entitled ‘Creating Lean Dealers’ which was published in November 2007 by Professor Dan Jones at the Lean Enterprise Academy (LEA) www.leanuk.org .

John now spends his time working with firms, primarily in car distribution, to improve business performance through lean transformations as well as carrying out other advisory projects

John is a graduate of the University of Wales, holds a Diploma in Management Studies and a Diploma in Marketing. He is a Chartered Marketer and Fellow of the Institute of the Motor Industry.

David is a serial entrepreneur and an active member of the Yorkshire business scene with vast knowledge and understanding across numerous sectors.

Having trained as a chartered accountant David went on to work in the logistics industry before moving to the international consulting firm Accenture, while at the same time running his first company in his spare time. In 2006 he took the plunge when he left full time employment and launched his second entrepreneurial venture with Auditel, which remains his primary focus today. He has a vast contact network across Yorkshire and further afield and in addition to the YDF he sits on the Leeds Initiative Board for Transport, which is shaping the long term strategic vision for the city’s transport infrastructure.

David is director of The Overhead Management Company, a Leeds-based business which operates under the Auditel brand and helps organisations manage their overheads more effectively.

Currently heading up the recently launched Warranty business channel at MAPFRE Warranty with over twenty years experience working directly with dealers and manufacturers in all aspects of automotive financial services and insurance. Previously Managing Director – Sales & Marketing at GMAC where he was responsible for finance and insurance sales & marketing activities and during that time delivered significant growth in dealer sales performance in both finance and insurance products.

Keith has worked with Barclays for over 30 years and for the last 10 years has headed up their motor retail team, managing a portfolio of larger dealer groups and helping to develop Barclays’ proposition for the sector.

National Head of the specialist Automotive and Roadside division within Colliers International which is the 3rd largest real estate company globally.

Team comprises dedicated property specialists to the Automotive sector that provide acquisition, disposal, valuation, litigation rating planning, rent review and investment advice to a whole range of manufacturers, retail groups, financial institutions, Private Equity Group etc.