CarShop has followed up its recent acquisition by Sytner with the appointment of Fiona Cottle as its new people director.

Cottle continues CarShop’s recruitment of directors from the retail sector and joins the business from global fashion retailer Primark.

CarShop’s marketing director Leo Nelson, was the former head of digital for Arcadia Group, and operations director Kirk O’Callaghan, a former head of operations for Halfords.

Bringing over 25 years’ HR experience, Cottle’s career spans across all touchpoints of a People Strategy, having held UK and global HR positions within Primark. 

She said: “After meeting with Jonathan I was captured by his vision for the future of the business, as well as his ambitious growth plans.

“I was presented with a great opportunity to use my experience to facilitate growth of a medium-sized customer-centric business, and that was a huge pull.

“I was also able to easily draw similarities between challenges facing this industry and ones I tackled in my previous role, and that grabbed my attention.

“Shortly after I was approached for the role, I conducted a mystery shop at one of the CarShop stores and was instantly impressed by the operation and people.”

Jonathan Dunkley, CarShop’s chief executive, said: “We have an extremely ambitious growth strategy, something we’re fully aware can only be driven by people.

“Our existing People Team have done tremendous work in establishing CarShop as one of the best employers in the industry, but it’s essential that we take our strategy to the next level as we strive to be a world-class retailer.”

Cottle takes up her new post on April 24th.