Motor trade body loses top marketer after restructure
The Retail Motor Industry Federation’s (RMIF) director of sales and marketing Gary Elliott has left after almost two years. He does not have a job to go to.
Elliott joined the RMIF, the trade body that represents car dealers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a brief to develop and implement a new marketing strategy as well as a recruitment and communications programme.
Elliot, who joined the body from the RAC where he was head of brand and marketing communication, says that his role has come to a “natural end”.
He says: “I joined to do a specific piece of work. The organisation has been going through a period of change and there was a degree of inevitability that my role would also change.”
He adds that he does not yet have a new job lined up but that he is having a “number of conversations” and is “looking forward to resurfacing soon”. He has yet to be replaced at the RMIF and his successor is expected to have a different focus.
Last year, the RMIF sold its apprenticeship programme Retail Motor Industry Training (ReMIT) for £25.5m to Carter and Carter, the automotive industry training specialist. The programme trains day-release apprentices for companies such as Ford, Citroën and independent garages, and employs more than 300 people.
The move has seen the RMIF slim down from 400 staff to about 50, and chief executive Matthew Carrington left in October last year. Elliott adds: “You don’t need a top-heavy management structure in an organisation that employs less than 50 people.”