12:36 pm, December 15, 2023
Car industry titan Daksh Gupta has told of his sadness at stepping down as vice-chairman of charity Ben – but also his immense pride at what had been achieved.
The former Marshall Motor Group CEO – who has accepted a role outside the automotive industry, having been appointed CEO-designate of builders’ merchants Huws Gray– announced on LinkedIn this morning that he quit the charity role yesterday.
Gupta had been vice-chairman of Ben for almost 11 years, and in his LinkedIn post he told what a privilege it had been.
‘I always felt privileged to be involved with Ben because it was my way of giving back to the sector and simply because it was the right thing to do.
‘What else is better than supporting those in automotive who need help?’
He added: ‘What’s made me more proud than anything else though is the number of people we have supported since I joined – 62,500 people!’
And with the charity now helping four times as many people as it did in 2011 – the year that he joined it – Gupta urged other sector leaders to step up to the plate.
‘There clearly is need for support and Ben is there to support but Ben needs support too. Therefore, I would ask other leaders in the sector to do the right thing too.
‘If you are not supporting Ben today, why not? If you are, thank you, but what more could you do? Your support will really help people in the sector who need Ben’s support,’ he wrote.
Of his ‘many proud and fond memories’ with the organisation, he said two things would stand out for him – launching the Dealers Backing Ben initiative that has raised £2.2m so far, and kicking off Ben’s annual Industry Leader Challenge, which saw him conquer his fear of heights by jumping out of a plane.
That daredevil feat raised £151,000, and the challenge has since gone on to raise almost £1m.
Gupta also paid tribute to Ben chairmen Joe Greenwell, Robin Woolcock and Steve Nash, as well as highlighting the ‘talented management teams’, calling current team Zara Ross, Matt Wigginton, Rachel Clift, Gary Burgham and Jonathan Cox ‘incredible’.
‘I have also met many of the fantastic people at Ben who do a great job, day in, day out. I leave knowing the organisation is in great hands. Thank you team,’ he said.
