Our Team
Our small team has hands on experience of working in the motor industry at all levels and finding the right people for jobs in the Motor Trade. We understand what you need from a recruitment agency.
All of us have worked in the Motor Industry for several years and have the experience to understand what you are looking for in a new job, or when you have jobs to fill in your business.
We select candidates for vacancies based on the criteria our clients specify; speak to each of them individually; assess their suitability for the job and only put forward those that we genuinely believe will add value to your business. As an employer that means you will only be sent CVs for the right candidates for your business. As a candidate you can be confident that your CV will not be sent anywhere without your knowledge.
Chris Highfield
Having trained as an Accountant, Chris became involved in the Motor Industry in 1985 joining Trimoco as a Salesman. He progressed through the ranks of Business Manager, Sales Manager and Dealer Principal before becoming a Regional Manager for Hartwell. In 1996 he joined the Dutton Forshaw Group and was part of the Senior Management MBO team that bought the business from Lonrho. In 1998 he joined the Osborne Group as Group General Manager before starting ARC Recruitment in 2000.
In his spare time Chris is a Director of the Colchester Garrison Officers Club and is a keen tennis player and skier. You can also find him on LinkedIn.
Nick Legge
Nick joined the Motor Trade in 1990 working for Trimoco. After a spell as a salesman and in Group Marketing he worked in Head Office after the takeover by Hartwell Plc as Operations Manager for the Ford Division. This was followed by 3 years as a General Manager of Luton Ford and Iveco in Dunstable. In 1996 he joined Carnell/Dixon Motors as General Manager of Peterborough Motorcycles before joining the Marshall Motor Group in 1999 as Head of Aftersales for their Thermo King division. Nick joined ARC in 2002. He is actively involved in Bourne Junior & Mini Rugby Club and you can also find him on LinkedIn.. Nick looks after all of the company IT. He is married to Maria and has 3 sons and attempts to go running at least twice a week!
Paul Smith
Paul joined the motor trade straight from school in 1986 as an apprentice mechanic with Ryder truck rental PLC. He then worked for various independent Commercial vehicle garages gaining promotions from Service Manager to Company Director. In 2005 Paul joined Renault Trucks at Blackburn as a Service Manager and up until moving into the Automotive Recruitment sector he was managing a UK & European wide Breakdown Service. Paul lives near Oldham with his wife and young son. He has a keen interest in Rock Climbing, Mountaineering and is a Team Member on the Oldham Mountain Rescue Team.
Maurice Wainwright
Maurice joined the Motor Trade as a Salesman in 1983. He quickly progressed representing Audi, VW, Renault and Nissan in the roles of Fleet Manager, Sales Manager and General Manager. In 2000 he was appointed Regional General Manager with responsibility for the Renault Retail Group’s Central and East London Dealerships. Returning to the North West in 2005 he joined the Holdcroft Motor Group as CMA Manager. His extensive knowledge of the industry and the North West area lead him to join ARC in 2011.
Ian Elwiss
Ian started in the motor trade in 1996 as a Used Car Sales Executive in Southampton, and gained promotion in early 1997 to Sales Controller for the same company but based in Chertsey Surrey, this was a used car supermarket. Within this role he moved around the country helping to set up sites in Glasgow, Manchester and Cannock. In 2001 he moved into the franchised world as a Sales Manager for Ford, and then to Jaguar based in Watford, then ultimately to Renault Retail Group where he progressed to General Manager. He has been in the Automotive Recruitment sector since early 2010. Ian is married to Adrienne and has 2 children; Oliver 7 and Francesca 5. He loves football and his team is Southampton!
Anthony Radley
Anthony’s automotive sector experience began in the tyre industry at manufacturers Dunlop and Avon, going from Office to Service Engineer and moving on into Field Sales, eventually reaching National Accounts Management. This was followed by a period in tyre distribution gaining experience of Key Account Management, Business Development, Local Branch and Regional Management where he further developed his man-management skills.
Moving into the Commercial Vehicle sector extended his management experience to Board Level with successful directorships in a mix of 10 UK and French based companies. With his experience of business (both entrepreneurial and corporate) Anthony has a strong understanding of what employers are looking for when choosing a recruiter to work with and how to identify staff that can make a real difference to an organisation.
Anthony is located in South Eastern Wales near the Forest of Dean and lives with his wife and golden retriever. Not surprisingly his favourite hobby is walking although motor sport and motorcycles are never far away. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.
Greg Rankin
Greg started working in the motor trade 20 years ago at the age of 17 with Hartwell Ford in Luton, initially as an admin assistant/dealer transfer but would come in at weekends to assist sales executives & learn the trade from the ground up. He was promoted to Fleet Sales Executive approximately one year later and then to New Car Sales Exec the following year, age 19.
Transferred to the larger Dunstable branch 3 years later he had a highly successful 4 years before promotion to Sales Contoller for 2 years before moving to a family business (Tebbutts Toyota) for a year, gaining knowledge of running a smaller operation. On becoming Business Manager at Camdens Peugeot in 2001 he spent 4 highly enjoyable & fruitful years before promotion to Regional Business Manager for Allen Ford covering 5 Ford dealerships in the midlands for 2 yrs before returning to Peugeot Bedford (now part of Marshall Motor Group) as Sales Manager for a further 2 years.
After a brief spell back at Hartwells he was again approached to be a Regional Business Manager, on this occasion for Camden’s where he operated more locally for 3 years covering 5 dealerships of various marques.
