Former Marshall Motor Group, Inchcape and Thompson Motor Group executive Dale Bland has joined Williams Motor Group as its new head of aftersales.

Bland will represent premium automotive brands BMW, Mini, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and BMW Motorrad in his new role with the Bolton-based AM100 car retail group.

He joins from Marshall Motor Group, where he was a head for business for Mercedes-Benz, and has previously held roles an aftersales and regional director at Inchcape UK and with the Thompson Motor Company as franchise director.

Commenting on the appointment, Williams Group managing director Guy Adams said: “We welcome Dale to the team and look forward to his contribution.

“He clearly understands our values and customer focus which have come into sharp relief during the pandemic.

“We continue to invest in offering the highest levels of service to our customers and Dale will be instrumental in leading the team that makes the Williams difference.”

Williams Group has been in business for 112 years and opened its 14-acre, £42 million flagship dealership site adjacent to Manchester’s Trafford Centre in 2019.

It also operates retail centres and service facilities in Bolton, Liverpool, Stockport, and Rochdale – employing over 750 staff.

Williams’ Trafford City site houses 72 workshop bays and claims to deliver “a step-change in automotive retailing” for the region with its world-class facilities.

A statement issued by the group said that it had made a number of enhancements to ensure customers could receive the high standard of service while remaining safe during the pandemic.

The family firm introduced a socially distanced personal concierge service with dedicated lanes allowing customers to drop off their cars for servicing and seamlessly collect a courtesy car.

In addition, its adapted its website to allow for the purchasing experience to be completed online with the introduction of their new click and collect service.