Ford of Britain is looking to appoint a new chair of its UK operations after it announced that Tim Slatter will move to a new global role.

Slatter joined Ford as chair in January 2022, but will now be heading vehicle programs for the Ford Blue combustion and hybrid vehicle business, a role previously led by Trevor Worthington, who has retired.

Slatter will remain as Ford of Britain’s chair and will continue to lead UK operations until a successor is in place and his relocation to Ford’s global headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan is complete.

Ford said the successor as chair of Ford in Britain “will be the subject of a later announcement”.

Slatter's new assignment includes management of all Ford Blue global vehicle programs, including derivatives, and Ford Performance products.

In this role, he will also be involved in strategy and cycle planning for Ford Blue, Ford Performance and Ford Motorsports.

Slatter, a 25-year company veteran, will report to Jim Baumbick, Ford Blue’s vice president, product development operations and quality.

Slatter was previously vehicle line director for vans and buses in the Ford Pro commercial vehicle business at Dunton Campus, in Essex and prior to that held a number of senior posts in Ford Motor Company China including executive director, product development, and vice president, product development, at Jiangling Motors Corporation, Ford’s joint venture in China, and various leadership roles in powertrain development and engineering.

Ford's UK business is in transition after it confirmed to its retail network of plans to roll out an agency model across Europe as it overhauls its customer journey to focus on electric vehicles (EV).\

It said agency would "ensure that customers get a consistent price whether they shop online or at the store of their choice".

A spokesperson for Ford told AM: "We have already launched the agency model earlier this year in the Netherlands and are gaining a lot of valuable insights for our future roll out to other markets.

"Our approach to the agency model is not limited to our electric vehicles but our entire portfolio. 

"We will share our future roll-out plans at a later point and therefore are currently not able to confirm a future roll-out or timing for the UK or other markets outside of the Netherlands."