Keith Allen appointed Managing Director of Licence Check as Terry Hiles takes strategic role
Highly-experienced and widely-respected fleet executive, Keith Allen, has been appointed as Managing Director of Derby-based Licence Check, the UK’s fastest growing licence checking and risk management business and part of the Ebbon Group of companies, with immediate effect.
At the same time, current General Manager, Terry Hiles, is moving to an advisory and consultancy role as he takes a more strategic position within the business, ahead of a planned and well-earned retirement.
Allen is a well-known figure in the fleet industry where he has worked for the last 26 years. He enjoyed 17 years at ALD Automotive, the last 14 as Managing Director, before joining ARI Fleet as Managing Director in 2013 – a role he occupied for a further seven years. He was also chairman of the BVRLA’s Leasing and Fleet Management committee for three years.
Most recently he has been working as a consultant within the industry, a capacity which brought him into contact with the Ebbon Group to discuss the setting up of a fleet consultancy within the business.
“It was then that I was first made aware of Terry’s impending retirement plans and I was given the opportunity to take over the reins at Licence Check,” said Allen.
“This is a hugely exciting opportunity. With our award-winning DAVIS (Driver and Vehicle Information Solution) platform, we have a superb system for identifying and managing driver risk, which has grown substantially under Terry’s excellent stewardship.
“We aim to expand and develop the portal to make it a still more convenient and accessible proposition for our rapidly-growing customer base with a range of expanded services.
“Within DAVIS, we also have our Fleet File module which currently provides users with a database for primarily managing vehicle compliance and document management.
“With the current age of digitisation, electrification and sustainability and the need to cut through mountains of data, we plan to grow and develop our fleet management services and take them to the next level via Fleet File, through which we also intend to provide our customers with access to a new, independent and strategic fleet consultancy service,” he said.
Terry Hiles has been with Licence Check for seven years, the last three as General Manager, following the retirement of former owner and founder Richard Brown in 2019.
“It’s great for the business to have Keith in this new role and to take advantage of his expertise and vast experience,” said Hiles.
“My new role will be a more strategic one, working across Licence Check and the recently-acquired DriverCheck business to start developing a more cohesive proposition, and building on the strengths of both to further develop our knowledge base.
“I will also be looking at the development of new products and services across all parts of the business, as well as continuing as our representative within our industry trade body, the Association for Driving Licence Verification (ADLV), as I move towards my retirement,” he added.
Robert Pilkington and Craig Gibbin, joint CEOs at the Ebbon Group, welcomed Keith Allen to the business and paid tribute to the work of Terry Hiles and his team.
“Keith’s huge experience within the fleet industry will be fundamental in us developing our fleet compliance capability and helping us strengthen our position as the leading fleet compliance business in the market,” said Robert Pilkington.
“Terry and his senior management team have done an outstanding job with the performance of Licence Check, taking it from number four in the market to vying for the number one position,” said Craig Gibbin. “We look forward to him adding value to the business for years to come in a part-time strategic and advisory role,” he added.
At the end of last year Ebbon Group acquired the licence checking business, DriverCheck, providing a leading managed platform service, which complements the self-serve-based DAVIS platform. This clearly positioned the Group as the number one in the UK’s fleet driver compliance market, with more than 3,500 customers responsible for half a million drivers and performing over 1.1 million licence checks per annum.
“In conjunction with our Ebbon Intelligence business and the technologies it will be launching, this is an area we will continue to invest in heavily as we look to bring our customers increasing capabilities to make it easier for them to manage their driver and vehicle compliance obligations,” added Robert Pilkington.
