CONGRATULATIONS to Russell Forbes who has been appointed Sales Director at Santander Consumer UK.
Forbes brings considerable corporate fleet experience to the role, joining from Audi UK where he has been the German brand’s National Contract Hire and Leasing Manager for the last six years.
He also has extensive used car experience both at Audi and at his previous appointment as Used Car Remarketing Manager for Nissan Motor GB.
Santander Consumer UK entered the corporate leasing and contract hire market in 2017 and currently lies at number eight in the FN50. By the end of 2030, Santander says it plans to treble the size of its fleet and be a top five player in the sector.
“We are delighted to welcome Russell Forbes to the business. He brings a wealth of knowledge to this leadership role, having over 20 years’ management experience in the automotive sector. Santander has achieved considerable growth in its contract hire and leasing operations over recent years and Russell will ensure the momentum we have achieved will accelerate as we expand this side of our business.”
Aaron Cardoso, Head of Leasing, Santander Tweet
Speaking about his appointment Forbes commented: “I welcome this opportunity to lead the next stage of growing Santander’s leasing and contract hire operations and look forward to building existing partnerships and establishing new ones.”
Forbes replaces former Sales Director Adam Harley, who left at the beginning of the year to take up the post of Managing Director of Porsche Financial Services GB.

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Ralph Morton is the leading journalist in the leasing broker sector and editor of Broker News, the website which provides information and news for BVRLA-registered leasing brokers. He also writes extensively on the fleet and leasing market in both the UK and Europe.