The Lead Agency has appointed Auto Trader’s former agency sales director Chris Gawor as its new head of agency partnerships.

Gawor, who arrives with 20 years of media sales experience, will be responsible for developing strategies that grow and develop its relationships with key media partners to drive TLA’s success in approved used, fleet and business and commercial.

He will work closely with group chief executive and founder Anton Hanley as well as automotive managing director Tom White, who spent seven years with Auto Trader and three with Time Out Group before joining the business in 2017.

“We are building an exceptional team to work closely with our clients and partners,” said Hanley.

“Chris’s wealth of commercial and strategic experience will help us to identify ways we can further support the objectives of our clients and partners.

“Like Tom, Chris has in-depth knowledge and understanding of the automotive industry’s commercial challenges and together with our growing team of account managers will provide a premium customer acquisition service for our clients.”

TLA has enjoyed strong growth over the last few years, earning a place in the FT1000 – Financial Times’ league table of the 1,000 fastest-growing companies in Europe – and more recently in The Sunday Times’ Tech Track 100.

It now supports the marketing efforts of 25 OEMs across the sector.

Gawor said: “I was immediately attracted to the team’s genuine commitment to build partnerships based on trust by providing transparent, insight-driven services that consistently deliver results.

“That proposition is one that I’m excited to work with as we grow relationships with new and existing media agency clients.”