LONDON: Inchcape plc has announced that Duncan Tait will join the Board as Group Chief Executive Officer (Designate) with effect from 1 June 2020 and will assume his full role on 1 July following a period of handover from Stefan Bomhard.

Inchcape plc is the leading independent multi-brand Automotive Distributor and Retailer, operating in 33 markets with a portfolio of over 30 of the world’s leading car brands.

Duncan was most recently on the Board of Directors at Tokyo listed company Fujitsu Ltd, the global technology services giant, with responsibility for EMEIA & Americas, a business with $10bn turnover and 35,000 people.

He has significant international experience and consistently proven success in several globally recognised companies. Duncan currently serves as a non-executive director on the boards of Agilisys Ltd and Business in the Community. He previously held executive and senior management positions at Unisys, Hewlett Packard and Compaq in a technology services-focused career of over 30 years.

Since leaving Fujitsu, Duncan has also joined ScaleUp Group, advising and supporting the growth potential of entrepreneurial businesses.

Duncan’s appointment comes after a thorough search process which attracted strong interest and a group of high-quality candidates. It follows the decision by Stefan Bomhard to step down as CEO and leave the business on 30 June 2020 in order to take up the position of Group CEO at Imperial Brands plc.

Nigel Stein, Chairman, said: “We are delighted to welcome Duncan to Inchcape. He is an exceptional Chief Executive and I am confident that Duncan’s style and approach will be a good fit with Inchcape’s culture and values, and his substantial technology-focused background will help the acceleration of our Ignite strategy. Duncan has worked with numerous industries and governments around the world and also brings with him experience of the automotive industry having been Fujitsu’s executive sponsor for Ford Motor Company. He was accountable for programmes with VW, Daimler and BMW, including work on autonomous vehicle and mobility projects. His almost ten-year experience of Japanese business and culture will also be valuable to our business.

I would like to repeat my thanks to Stefan Bomhard for his contribution to Inchcape since his appointment in 2015 and to wish him well in his future endeavours.”

Duncan Tait said: “I am very pleased to be joining Inchcape and leading the business at such a dynamic time for the automotive sector. I look forward to working with a very talented management team as we navigate through the complexities of Covid-19, on the next phase of the Company’s growth plan, at the same time maximising the opportunities that will come from new and developing trends in the industry.”

Stefan Bomhard said: “I would like to thank Nigel, the Board and my colleagues on the Group Executive team for their support over the last five years in the transformation of Inchcape towards a distribution weighted business model behind the Ignite strategy. This is fundamentally a very strong business with, I believe, a great future of growth ahead, and I wish everyone at Inchcape the very best.”