Meet management
MICHAEL BOXFORD - CHAIRMAN
Michael has been Chairman of a number of private equity backed businesses in recent years in the retail, wholesale, manufacturing and IT sectors. He was appointed Chairman of Micheldever at the time of the buy-out in 2006.
Earlier in his career he headed up Parfums Yves Saint Laurent in France and was Group Chief Executive of Boosey & Hawkes plc, the world’s no.1 serious music publisher and Europe’s largest instrument manufacturer. He then entered the private equity industry and was a Senior Partner at Graphite Capital, the majority shareholder in Micheldever.
PAUL FOX - CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Paul led the purchase of the business from the original founder in February 2006 backed by Graphite Capital, the leading mid-market private equity firm. He has assembled and developed arguably the strongest management team in the UK tyre industry resulting in excellent growth of the Company. Turnover in FY12 of £350mill has risen from £165mill in FY6.
Prior to the acquisition of MTS, he has held three CEO/MD positions since 1987, firstly in Mercedes Benz Retail, thence developing Peters Plc into Europe's largest yacht sales company, and finally managing Brownhills Ltd, Europe's largest motor homes sales business, before successfully leading the BIMBO of MTS at the beginning of 2006.
RICHARD SAWNEY - FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
Richard is responsible for the Finance, HR, IT and Property of the Group. He has been with the Company since the BIMBO in 2006 and has seen the growth of the Company from a turnover of £165m and EBITDA of £8.5m which has doubled in 5 years.
Prior to joining Micheldever Richard has been Operations Director of Brownhills Motorhomes and Finance Director of B A Peters, UK's largest Boat sales company.
SIMON HIORNS - RETAIL DIRECTOR
Simon Hiorns is responsible for developing the retail network, Protyre. He has seen the number of centres grow from16 in 2007 to 63 in 2011. Tyreland and Windway Tyres are the latest businesses to have joined the Protyre team (November 2011). He is also responsible for developing retail strategies and building strong teams to drive the business forward.
Simon has operated at board level for over 10 years, having previously worked as Operations Director at Bourne Leisure and Little Chef.
ALAN BALDWIN - WHOLESALE DIRECTOR
Alan Baldwin is responsible for the companies Wholesale and Distribution business, consisting of sales channels to Independent Retail Tyre Dealers, National Retail accounts, Fleet, and Vehicle Manufacturers and Dealers.
The company is the largest distributor of 4x4 tyres in the UK, which has been developed strongly from the Niche 4x4 wholesale Business, Southam Tyres, previously run by Alan from the mid 80's until its acquisition by MTS in 2000.
JON COWLES - ACQUISITIONS DIRECTOR
Jon is responsible for developing and delivering the Group’s buy and build strategy, and at November 2011 has added 50 sites to the business. Prior to joining the Group in December 2006 Jon spent 10 years with KPMG LLP working in M&A advisory both in the UK and internationally, and led the team that advised Graphite Capital on their acquisition of Micheldever Tyres in February 2006. Jon is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
DAVE HADDOCK - LOGISTICS DIRECTOR
Dave is responsible for the Group's Logistics operations across the business which over the last 3 years have grown from 7 to 13 wholesale warehouses and a vehicle fleet in excess of 500.
Dave built his career in Logistics working across business sectors such as pharmaceuticals, food and DIY in both the third party and own account sectors and was the Director of Logistics for B&Q prior to joining Micheldever in 2008.
