Former managing director of car dealer group Hillendale Lee Collins has joined the specialist automotive team at UHY Hacker Young.

Collins (on the right in the picture) joins David Kendrick, Paul Daly and Matthew Hodgson in the dedicated motor retail team, a year after selling Hillendale to Vertu Motors in an £8.2 million deal.

Collins has more than 25 years’ experience in motor retail, having initially worked his way up in the Prestons Group to managing director and successfully completing a management buyout of its Hillendale Land Rover operation in 2006, and acquiring a Jaguar dealership from Pendragon in 2013. He turned both businesses into top ranking dealerships for customer service.

Collins also created and ran his own marketing company, Imagered, between 2000 and 2014 and has considerable marketing experience.

He joins UHY in Manchester as director of management consultancy, and plans to use his diverse experience as a retailer and from serving on the Jaguar Land Rover dealer cabinet, to assist dealers with customer service, enquiry management, best practice, sales performance and profitability.

Collins said: “My focus will be adding value to the existing client base as well as working with both dealers and manufacturers to assist with improved profitability, customer experience and best practice.”

David Kendrick, partner at UHY Hacker Young said: “Lee joining the team gives us a completely new skill set which we believe will enhance our service offering to both dealers and manufacturers.”

Mike Wasinski, managing partner at UHY Hacker Young said: “The appointment of Lee takes us from an essentially accounts based offering to a much broader spectrum of advice. With his vast range of experience and skills, we believe this will bring a valuable new service line to the practice.”