On the move 56 www.aftermarketonline.net NOVEMBER 2025 On the move Our round-up of the latest industry appointments. Send your people and recruitment news to the editor: john@aftermarket.co.uk Exol Lubricants CEO Darren Frogson has succeeded Harald Oosting as chairman of the Verification of Lubricant Specifications (VLS). VLS confirmed Frogson’s appointment on September 26, saying he had nearly 30 years’ experience in the lubricants sector and great strength in commercial management. Frogson has been a VLS board member since 2015 and was elected president of the United Kingdom Lubricants Association (UKLA) in 2020. Oosting is succeeding Mike Bewsey as UKLA’s next president. As CEO of Exol, Frogson runs one of the largest independent lubricants companies in the UK, with a £100 million turnover. Willis joins A1 ADAS as group expands Repairify boosts service and tech sales teams Factor Sales has appointed Sebastian de Pedro as its new business development manager. The UK automotive aftermarket analysis platform said de Pedro will work closely with motor factors to help them thrive in the competitive and evolving sector. “For suppliers, we transform raw transactional Darren Leppard has taken on the newly created role of head of revenue and operations at Autotech Recruit. The firm said Leppard’s appointment demonstrated its commitment to delivering innovative, future-focused solutions for the UK automotive aftermarket. Leppard will oversee Autotech Recruit and Autotech Academy — two of the four Autotech Group brands — leading a team of highly experienced consultants. Many of these consultants have been with the business since its early days and bring deep knowledge of the automotive sector. Leppard joins the company with a wealth of expertise in delivering temporary, contract, and permanent staffing solutions across multiple sectors. Leppard takes on new Autotech post De Pedro joins Factor Sales A1 ADAS Group has appointed Jamie Willis as business relationship manager. The new role comes as the family-run business continues to expand nationally, having doubled in size over the past 12 months. Willis will work with new A1 customers, strengthen existing relationships and ensure that workshops are aware of the full scope of the group’s services. He joins from ALLDATA, with nearly 30 years of automotive experience. He began his career as an apprentice mechanic before qualifying as a technician, and later moved into front-of-house, workshop management and technical data roles. Having worked in many positions across the sector, Willis has first-hand insight into the pressures faced by technicians, garage and bodyshop managers, and fleet companies. Exol CEO Frogson named VLS chairman Repairify has announced three new appointments as it continues to expand its service and technical sales teams. Joel Bagge, an automotive sales specialist, has been named technical sales executive, Craig Sippetts has been appointed mobile ADAS technician in the UK and Mohamed Nawaz Rahim has joined the company as automotive diagnostic technician for remote support for Repairify Europe, based in Italy. Repairify said Bagge has more than 13 years’ experience, working previously for Snap-on, Euro Car Parts and Alliance Automotive Group. He will be responsible for all aftercare and support, working directly with customers to ensure they are employing the company’s products and services to their full potential. Sippetts previously worked for FMG Repair Services. Nawaz brings a wealth of technical experience having recently completed his masters in automation engineering from the University of Bologna. Darren Leppard Darren Frogson Joel Bagge Sebastian de Pedro Jamie Willis data into practical intelligence that informs decisionmaking and can fuel growth,” de Pedro said. “I am confident data can play a significant role for both the national distributors and independent factors.”
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