Paul Dillon (pictured) has been appointed joint managing director of the Westover Group.

Dillon - who has been with Westover for 21 years - will continue to work alongside group chairman and joint managing director, Peter Wood, supported by the group’s three other board directors, finance director Keith Martin, Mike Boyd and Paul Collins.

He joined the group’s board 18 years ago and was promoted to group operations director in February 2009.

His first position with Westover was as sales manager of the group’s Land Rover showroom in Poole, but he quickly progressed to become Land Rover brand director and then took on additional responsibility for other brands with the group.

“When Paul was appointed group operations director his challenge was to pull the group together, ensuring that best practices, operational policies and standards of customer service were applied consistently across all our brands and branches,” said Wood.

“It wasn’t an easy task as Westover had incorporated a number of other local businesses over the years, bringing a variety of cultures and working methods to the group.

"However, Paul, supported by the rest of the board, has worked tirelessly to achieve a cohesive Group, with tremendous success.

"More recently, Paul and I have worked closely together to integrate brands - such as Dacia and Hyundai - into the group and to develop new and refurbished showrooms for some of our burgeoning brands.

“In his role as joint MD Paul will continue the good work he has already begun, striving to further improve and develop all areas of the business.

"With the continued support of the operational board and senior management teams, his focus will - as always - be on delivering an ever-better experience for our customers. On behalf of everyone here at Westover, we wish him continued success.”

Westover has had a strong start to 2014, with the first part of the year seeing the Group achieve its best-ever results in both new and used car sales, as well as servicing work.