Speakers

Jim Saker is the Ford Professor in the Business School at Loughborough University and is Director of the Centre for Automotive excellence.

He specialises in Marketing and Strategic Management. He was responsible for the development and launch of the world’s first ever BSc and MSc in Retail Automotive Management and is leading a range of initiatives in this sector.

These include serving on the UK Governement’s Automotive Industry Growth Team, being academic advisor to the Automotive Skills ARMS project, sitting on Automotive Management Senior Advisory Board and Chairing the IMI Awarding Body Board. In 2004 he entered the Automotive Management Power 100. He has advised and works with a wide range of car companies and their dealership networks. Jim has also been appointed to the Government’s Management and Leadership Panel .

Jim has experience working with a variety of organisations including those outside the motor industry examples being Rolls Royce, Fisons, Royal Bank of Scotland, Boots, T&N, Abbey National, Laing, Mobil, Bausch & Lomb, Ericsson, Scottish Prison Service, British Tourist Authority, London South Bank University and a range of smaller companies in the Channel Isles and UK main land. He was responsible for the marketing strategy to raise the finance for the Alliance & Leicester Stand at the Leicester Tigers Ground and undertook the first development plan for Harlequins. He is President of the Leicester Riders Basketball Team.

At the University he chairs the Loughborough Student Sports Foundation which supports the development of promising young sports people in a large a large variety of sports.
 

Steve Scofield is Head of Skills Development for the IMI, responsible for leading its Automotive Skills division. The development of new qualifications for the sector, labour market research, accreditation, quality improvement and the implementation of the new Diploma are all major objectives for Steve's team this year. Steve will be highlighting a strategy for the motor industry's future qualifications requirements, which follows a major piece of research from the IMI.
 

Christopher Macgowan is the Vice Chairman of the Motorists’ Forum, a Trustee of the National Motor Museum, a director of The Caravan Club, a director of ODETTE International Ltd and is President of the automotive industry charity BEN. He is a former Chief Executive of both the SMMT and the RMIF and is a Vice President of The Automotive Fellowship International. He commenced his career on the truck side of British Leyland and later was with Massey-Ferguson.

A former apprentice with Rolls Royce Aero Engines and graduate in Engineering, Stephen went on to teach in industry and further education before moving into educational management with Tile Hill College, now City College, Coventry.

He was seconded to the Further Education Funding Council in it’s last year to develop organisational arrangements for funding national provision in the new Learning and Skills Council and took up a post in the National Contracts Service at its creation.

Following a period as Director for Skills and Workforce Development Stephen was appointed to lead the LSCs Apprenticeship team’s drive to improve Apprenticeship performance in 2004.

Stephen Gardner will discuss how funding for apprenticeships works from an employer's perspective, as well as why the recent increases in funding available will benefit business. He will also take a look at the implications of the new National Apprenticeship Service which is being launched next year.

Allan Tyrer is the IMI's Finance Director and Company Secretary. In his presentation, Allan will help delegates get to grips with the funding opportunities which exist to help their businesses develop staff, through initiatives such as Train to Gain and Women and Work, for example.
 

John Fogerty is Managing Director of PAR Training (People:Action:Results). Working with Surrey-based privately owned dealer group, Wilsons, John has successfully implemented a specialist sales training programme for the company which has secured Train to Gain funding. John will outline how this programme has delivered results for the company and how it went about seeking funding to help it deliver the training for its sales team.
 

Sarah Sillars OBE is Chief Executive of the IMI. She is also a Vice President of BEN and a non-executive director of Marshalls of Cambridge. Recruiting and retaining high calibre individuals into the retail motor industry remains one of the biggest challenges for the sector and Sarah will be moderating the session "What can you do to attract and keep the right people," which will examine how the industry can tackle this issue, drawing from the experiences of four major companies.
 

'Duncan Wilkes has been CEO of Nationwide Autocentres since leading a Management Buy In in February 2006. Nationwide is the leading provider of MOT, Service and mechanical repair to UK drivers, operating from 216 centres across the country.

Previously he spent 3 years as Group MD of RAC Business Solutions responsible for all RAC business to business activity. Prior to this he was MD of 7C Limited providing outsourced customer management to large organisations and between 1990 and 2000 he was COO of Action Computer Supplies, growing revenue from £15m to £176m and helping take the company public in 1996.

Previously, Neil has held retail sales and sales management roles with Alfa Romeo, Mitsubishi and Mercedes-Benz franchises, as well as sales and aftersales roles at Ford Motor Company.

Neil joined Honda (UK) in October 1996 as an Area Sales Manager - Cars, for South East England. Subsequently, he ran marketing programmes and motivation programmes for Marketing - Cars, responsible for brand strategy, advertising and corporate identity.

In 2000, Neil joined Honda Power Equipment as UK Sales Manager for Marine and ATV divisions. He took responsibility for Lawn and Garden and Energy later that year. Neil was appointed Head of the Honda Institute effective from Jan 2008.

Melvin Rogers started his management career in retail banking and has spent the last 15 years specialising in training, development and human resources. Joining Sytner Group just after the Penske acquisition in 2002 he has been actively involved in shaping a successful “commercially focused” de-centralised approach to HR within the Group.

He has championed a strategic approach to HR leading to improvements in recruitment/selection, management development and the nurturing of talent within effective succession planning. The Group enjoys industry leading levels of staff satisfaction and an enviable retention rate.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a Fellow of the Institute of the Motor Industry. He completed his Post-Graduate studies in Human Resources at the University of the West of England in Bristol.

Sytner Group was recently recognised as the AM Employer of the Year and placed 4th in the Sunday Times Top 20 Best Big Companies to Work for in the UK.

John McGuire established Phoenix Car Company in 1993 and has grown the business to a £157 million turnover, 17-site business.
He employs 360 staff and is always looking to recruit high quality graduates from universities. As McGuire is fond of saying: “Everyone in my company is a great deal brighter than I am.”
Motivation and training is a priority at the company and Phoenix invests heavily in all its staff, from the newest recruit to the longest serving employee.

Lesley Woolley is Head of Professional Development at the IMI. Promoting the industry as a desirable career option for young people, as well as offering guidance to those seeking career development, is one of the IMI's 'Big Wins' and Lesley will highlight how the IMI is undertaking this task by working with schools and other stakeholders to improve perceptions of the industry.
 

David is Head of HR Shared Services for Standard Life plc and is based at their worldwide headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland. His area delivers day to day HR services to around 10,000 staff across the Standard Life group.

He has worked for major financial services companies both in the UK and overseas and has held both operational and policy roles in HR.

In the last 6 years he has been heavily involved in the application of Lean techniques in HR.

David is a Chartered Banker, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He has a Masters degree in Human Resource Management from Leicester and has attended the Harvard Business School Strategic HRM Programme.