9:50 am, April 16, 2024
Holden Group has appointed Richard Hollis to oversee its used car operations in a major coup for the family-run retailer.
Hollis joins from online disruptor Cinch, where he worked as head of pricing, and will now take on the title of ‘head of group used cars’ at Holden.
Bosses say he will be responsible for developing the group’s used car strategy, which will be rolled out at its seven dealerships across East Anglia.
He was selected for the role after impressing Holden with more than 23 years’ experience in the UK retail motor industry, having specialised in the used car market for the past 14 years.
Prior to joining Cinch in 2020, Hollis was head of used car development for Jardine Motors, having previously worked as group used car manager with Mercedes-Benz Retail Group.
Commenting on his appointment, he said: ‘I’ve joined the team at a really exciting time.
‘It’s unusual to find a family business with 100-year history which is also an ambitious business that wants to grow. My role has been created to support our expansion.
‘I’ll be making sure we’re using all the latest industry developments, such as improvements to photography and video, and embracing artificial intelligence. All these things are starting to come into play.
‘A group of our size that wants to grow, needs to have all these elements in place today so that they can be rolled out and standardised throughout the business as it expands.
‘I’ll be providing an additional level of support to the team so that the sites don’t have to worry about trade disposals or who’s supplying their photography. I’ll be taking advantage of scale and tightening up our systems landscape to make life easier for our team.
‘With my finance background, I’m quite data driven so one of the things we’re already working on is developing our reporting systems to inform decision-making.
‘We can use that data to see what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong and to hold ourselves to account so that we’re achieving our best performance.’
In his new position, Hollis will report directly to Martyn Webb, managing director of Holden Group, who added: ‘Richard’s knowledge and experience will be a huge asset for our team.
‘He will be a key member of the team, working with myself and the wider business to strengthen and grow our performance. I am delighted to welcome Richard to the Holden Group.’
Main image: Martyn Webb and Richard Hollis
