Gareth Kaye has taken responsibility for the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle division of dealer group Imperial Commercials.

In his new role of group van franchise director, Kaye has a strategic aim of creating great synergies across the van centres, helping to drive business improvements across the group. Kaye is also responsible for co-ordinating the group’s fleet operations and sales in the wider group.

The commercial vehicle specialist dealer operates Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles van centres in Derby, Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent as well as several truck sites.

Kaye has more than 26 years of automotive experience, the last 18 years at management level. He joined Imperial Commercials in 2007, to develop its LCV franchise portfolio.

He said: “I’m delighted to be taking on a new challenge and look forward to driving new strategies throughout the group that will improve efficiency, drive growth and ultimately lead to improved customer service levels across the sites.

“We have spent more than £2.5 million on redevelopment of our van centres over the past five years and we are delighted to be celebrating seven years in business at our Derby site as well as five successful years at our Stoke-on-Trent division.

“My focus is on bringing together the successes of individual sites to help strengthen the Group’s profile and support new product launches, ultimately enabling us to expand the business in the future.”