Sir Peter Vardy is one of Britain’s most successful businessmen, having grown the company started by his father Reg in North East England into a £1.7bn turnover plc operating from more than 100 sites with 6,000 colleagues.

He is a highly respected figure in business, recognised for building a successful, nationwide company in a competitive and complex industry and for using his experience to foster entrepreneurship and to support others in business.

He has been honoured on many occasions including North East Businessman of the Year in 1988 and the Motor Industry Outstanding Achievement Award in 2004.
He was knighted in 2001 for 'Services to Business and Education in North East England'.

The acquisition of Reg Vardy plc for £506m by Pendragon in March saw Sir Peter step down from his role as Chief Executive of the company where he has spent all his working life.

Chief Executive of the IMI since 2002, Sarah Sillars continues to spearhead a concerted campaign for recognition of skilled individuals through the accreditation of current competence across the automotive sector, which led to the launch in 2005 of the UK’s first national assessment scheme for technicians – Automotive Technician Accreditation – now more than 4,500 strong.

In 2005, Sarah was appointed by the Department of Trade and Industry to chair the new ‘Skills Sherpa’ unit of the Retail Motor Strategy Group. She is on the steering committee for the Sector Skills Agreement and is a member of the Skills Accreditation Task Force for the retail motor sector.

A non-executive director of Marshalls of Cambridge, a leading aerospace and automotive company, employing over 4,000 staff, Sarah is also a Vice President of BEN (the Motor Industry and Allied Trades Benevolent Fund) and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Coach-makers and Harness-makers.

A highly respected industry commentator, Sarah has chaired and presented at many major conferences, seminars, awards evenings and industry events. She has a high media profile within the automotive arena and has appeared on BBC Business Breakfast, Radio 4’s flagship ‘Today’ programme and BBC 5 Live amongst others.

Awarded ‘Industry Personality of the Year 2004’ and ‘Outstanding Achievement Award 2006’ by automotive magazines, AM and Motor Trader respectively, AM Magazine, Sarah is listed as the most influential female executive in the UK motor industry in the AM Power List.

Prior to joining the IMI, Sarah was Operations Director at specialist automotive management consultancy, Anne Gray Associates. She has more than twenty five years of experience within the motor and retail industries, having begun her career as a management trainee with Marks & Spencer, later managing stores in England and Wales.

Steve is the CEO of LDV Group, the UK commercial vehicle specialist bought by GAZ Group in July 2006, and a Director of GAZ International. Previously he led a team trying to acquire another manufacturer as the basis of his IndeGo "Next Generation Car Company" concept, after a 19 year career with A.T. Kearney, the leading management consultants in the automotive industry. Whilst at A.T. Kearney, he was Vice President and Head of A.T. Kearney’s Northern European Automotive Practice, and part of the senior management team for their Global Automotive Practice. He had the account responsibility within the firm for Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group, and has led and delivered consulting services across a broad range of business issues and geographies to vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and service providers. Prior to A.T. Kearney, his initial career was in manufacturing roles, mainly in the automotive industry with Ford and British Leyland. He is a graduate in Production Engineering, and holds a Diploma in Management Studies.

Michael van der Sande was born and raised in The Netherlands and decided very early on that a career in automotive industry would be the way to go. During his university years he completed internships with Mercedes-Benz and Harley-Davidson. After completing his MBA Michael joined Nissan Europe, where he held positions in marketing and dealer development. He then moved to the UK to join Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, where he was European and UK Marketing manager.

Michael joined Harley-Davidson Europe in 1996 as Marketing Director and has since held a variety of roles in Sales, Product planning, and Strategic planning. Most recently, he was Managing Director Commercial Operations, with responsibility for Sales and Dealer development for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Michael was recently appointed Managing Director of Harley-Davidson Europe Ltd, with responsibility for the sales, marketing and distribution of all Harley-Davidson and Buell products in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He leads a team of 180 staff spread across Harley-Davidson’s European HQ in Oxford and seven European sales subsidiaries.

Michael lives in Maidenhead with his family.

David is the Managing Director of LeasePlan UK Limited, one of the world’s leading fleet management and funding organisations.  Since joining LeasePlan in January 2006, David has spearheaded a strategy to move the business into a new era through the provision of great customer service.  In addition, David has made it his personal aim to ensure LeasePlan is seen as a leader in the provision of carbon neutral vehicle leasing programmes, an issue which is high on the agenda of many organisations and one which David feels very strongly about.

Prior to joining LeasePlan, David held several high profile positions across the automotive industry, including 10 years working for Rover Group in senior Sales and Marketing roles and 3 years as Sales Director for the UK importer of Mazda Cars, before the business was sold.

David then moved into management consultancy to broaden his career, working initially for the global leader, AT Kearney. During this time he was able to use his marketing and automotive background to help large organisations design and implement strategic change programmes. 

After 3½ years travelling the world as a management consultant, David returned to the UK to be Vice President of RL Polk, a data and consultancy provider to the automotive sector.

Subsequently, David left to head one of the consultancy businesses for the leading outsourcing company Capita plc.

Away from the office, David enjoys spending time with his wife and three children at their Harrogate home and on many occasions watching Leeds United at Elland Road.

Keith has been the Finance Director for The Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre (more commonly known as Thatcham) for the last 2 years. As well as being responsible for the financial aspects of the company he also manages all of the other support functions including company secretarial, HR, Facilities and IT.

Previous work experience includes 12 years with PHH (now Arval) in the Fleet Management and Corporate Relocation sectors.  On leaving PHH as the European Financial Controller Keith has gone on to hold Finance Director positions in the Telecoms and PR industries.

He has now brought his considerable commercial and strategic experience to the non profit sector and is working with the other executive directors of Thatcham to ensure the company is able to meet the growing complexities facing insurers and the motor industry in the spheres of repair standards, skills competencies, personal injury and vehicle security.

Keith qualified as an accountant in 1992 and is now a fellow of the ACCA

John Greatrex was appointed to his current role as Group HR Director for the Unipart Group of Companies in April 2005.  In addition to leading the HR function, he also has accountability for the Health, Safety, Environment, CSR and Contingency Planning activities across the Group.  He also plays a leading role in developing the Group’s “Lean” capabilities and sits on the Unipart Automotive Board.

John joined Unipart from Diageo where he was HR Director for Diageo Key Markets, covering some 30 markets in Latin America, Asia, Europe, Australasia and Africa.  Previous to that, John had extensive experience in designing and implementing Global Supply Chain Operations. 

His career spans senior HR positions in the UK, the USA, Ireland and Jamaica working for blue chip companies such as the Dalgetty Spillers Group, and the Thorn EMI Group.