Smith brings 16 years’ automotive experience, including 14 within the contract hire and leasing industry gained at LeasePlan, where he held a number of management positions in sales and marketing, most recently as general manager of SME and consumer marketing.
In his new role, Smith will be based at Essential’s head office in Lincoln and will be responsible for the delivery of the full marketing mix promoting Essential’s offering of specialist vehicle funding, fleet management, short term rental and maintenance.
He joins Essential, which was previously the Fleet and Passenger Services division at Kier Group prior to its acquisition by Leeds-headquartered private equity firm Endless in July 2015, following the appointments of Ed Hummel as sales director and Greg Taylor as commercial director.
Ed Hummel said: “Chris brings a huge amount of knowledge and experience to the business, not just in marketing but also within the leasing sector. He’ll be a great asset to our senior management team and I look forward to working with him as we continue to deliver significant growth at Essential.”
Smith added: “I’m excited to return to the leasing industry after a short foray away, and with a long history in cars and vans I’m looking forward to learning more about specialist vehicles!”
