After celebrating a tremendous first decade in January 2015 as an influential automotive consortium, the Retail Automotive Alliance has announced two new appointments; Paul Knight and John Matthews, who are ready to steer the group through its next decade.

Paul Knight, previously Finance Director of Ford Britain and Ford France, has been newly appointed to Chairman of the RAA. Knight, who worked at Ford Motor Company from 1970 to 2002 commented:

“I joined the RAA at its inception in 2005 as the first CEO and saw it through its formative stages to become a successful buying group having achieved savings of over £5million annually. I finally retired that post in April 2009” he went on to say he was: “delighted to take RAA through its next stage of development”.

The RAA looks set to take huge steps securing further proficient deals for its member by drawing on Paul’s extensive 45 years of motor industry knowledge and connections.

John Matthews has been appointed as the new Business Development Director and will head up the company’s growth plans. Matthews has over 20 years’ service in the Automotive Industry, working as part of Management Teams with companies such as Audatex, Fix Auto and more recently AutoRestore, a sister company of Autoglass, who pioneered mobile accident repair in the UK commented:

“We are now ready to look beyond purchasing alone and deliver other business benefits to the Group, so part of my role will be to identify and exploit new opportunities as well as target growth of the network. A very exciting challenge for me and the team and I’m really looking forward to it!”