Michelin has appointed Andrew French as B2B sales director for the UK and Ireland, with responsibility for truck, bus, van, agriculture, construction, mining and the Services and Solutions business lines.
Mr French takes on the role with immediate effect, just weeks after celebrating 25 years with the company, having joined the company as an apprentice in August 1996.
After a number of roles in accounting and finance, he qualified as a chartered management accountant in 2009, before being appointed company accountant for a small group of UK based Michelin companies. In 2011, he joined the UK commercial management team, holding multiple roles including key account manager where he was responsible for the company’s multi product-line relationship with a major distributor.
Since 2018, he has held the role of director of services and solutions for the UK, Ireland and the Nordic region, heading a team looking after some of the company’s largest European customers and collectively responsible for growing the business and managing the tyres on more than 90,000 vehicles.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr French said: “I am hugely excited to land a role which will enable me to work across so many parts of the Michelin business. These are all sectors where we can provide sustainable and connected mobility solutions which will help to drive fleet safety, compliance and efficiency to new levels, all in a sustainable manner.
“My focus is going to be on ensuring we deliver the highest standards of customer satisfaction and growth. There are a lot of companies evaluating new ways of working as the country starts to build back stronger, smarter and greener from the pandemic, and we are confident this will bring new opportunities for Michelin – both with tyres and around tyres.”
Mr French takes over the role from Chris Smith, who previously held the role as part of his wider remit as managing director. Mr Smith will move to Michelin’s international headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France and will take the role of global marking director of long-distance transportation from the 1st of November.