The Department for Transport has announced that Noel Shanahan will succeed Clive Bennett CBE as chief executive of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. Bennett retires at the end of 2007.

Shanahan is currently customer services director at DVLA, responsible for the agency's customer strategy, including the shift towards electronic services.

He has promoted the use of electronic vehicle licensing and the use of Directgov as the primary access point for customers not just of DVLA but of other DfT Agencies. He joined the Agency in 2004 after a career in the telecommunications industry, working for BT, Cable & Wireless and NTL where he had been customer services director.