Alan Pond, former president of BEN, the automotive industry charity, has died.

Alan was president of BEN from 1991 to 1993 during a period of economic downturn and he was undoubtedly responsible for helping BEN secure its long term future.

Alan secured core funding for BEN through the launch of the SMMT-BEN ‘30p per car’ initiative in 1993.

Gerard Barclay, chief executive of BEN, said: "Unfortunately I did not have the privilege of meeting Alan personally. However, I am aware of all the tremendous support he gave to BEN over many years.

"We will always remember with gratitude his leadership during his presidency when he saw us through one of the most difficult periods in the Fund’s history."