Bridgestone Celebrate Major Coup With Guy Jones Acquisition

Bridgestone Celebrate Major Coup With Guy Jones Acquisition

Bridgestone’s north region senior management team has been significantly boosted with the addition of an industry-respected sales and marketing director to head-up a new business development role.

Guy Jones brings a wealth of automotive experience to the new Bridgestone management team.

He started his career with Land Rover developing Range Rover, then became global brand manager at Bentley, playing a key role in the development of the Continental GT.

As marketing director of Kia he established the company as a volume brand in the UK and most recently he has lead the commercial team to successfully re-launch MG in Europe, making it the fastest growing automotive brand in the UK in 2014.

As north region business development director, Guy’s main objective will be to manage the delivery of a number of key projects as part of a process to transform the sales and profitability of the European business, working across the commercial and consumer divisions in the UK and Ireland as well as the Nordic regions.

The business development position represents a new role in the business and a ‘final piece in the jigsaw’, where Guy will work alongside sales and marketing directors Farrell Dolan (consumer) and John Folliss (commercial), reporting to managing director Robin Shaw.

Guy said: “I have joined the global number one brand in the tyre and rubber business so naturally, I am delighted.  I am looking forward to working for a business that is not only strong in the passenger car segment but also light commercials, motorcycles, agricultural, off road and truck and bus.  I have been really impressed by the culture of the people here and their levels of commitment.  I have certainly sensed a good degree of positivity here which is a great base from which to start.”

Guy also sees great potential in Bridgestone’s sister brand Firestone, with a host of exciting sales and marketing plans already planned for 2015.

“Firestone represents an exciting proposition and there are ways to leverage the brand which, in turn, can transform the sales and profitability of the European business.”