Car and van leasing provider Gateway2Lease has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Jade Bickerton, a former business manager at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), as its Sales Director.
Jade joins Gateway2Lease as the West Midlands-based business experiences 20% year-on-year growth across all sales channels, and has recently expanded its sales team.
She will be responsible for leading and developing the sales team to reach further ambitious sales targets.
Jade is highly experienced in the automotive sector, having worked at JLR for more than a decade in a variety of roles, including New Model Programme Lead – Marketing, Sales and Service, and Global Business Manager – Commercial.
She was Managing Director of OEM supplier SPAL Automotive UK, where she was responsible for promoting growth and securing the sales pipeline, and headed SPAL Group’s medical technology division THD UK.
Immediately prior to joining Gateway2Lease, Jade ran her own consultancy firm, Infinite Business Performance, supporting SMEs with growth performance.
“I’m delighted to have joined Gateway2Lease – the growth trajectory of the business is really exciting,” Jade said.
“We already have a well-performing sales team, and my role is to help create the environment for them to further succeed – but at the right pace.”
Gateway2Lease’s family-orientated culture appealed to Jade. The leasing broker was founded by Managing Director Kelly Marshall and her father Alan Marshall in 2008, and since 2015 it has been co-owned by Kelly’s brother Rob Marshall, who is also Operations Director.
“I can relate to that as I worked at JLR at the same time as my brother and father,” Jade said. “We all worked on the cessation of the original Land Rover Defender and then I worked on the launch of the new Defender in 2020, following in the footsteps of my great grandfather who was the foreman on the first Land Rover built in 1948, and my grandfather, who was a foreman for Land Rover in 1956.
“Now, I get to experience another part of the automotive sector and work with a broad spectrum of OEMs and funders.”
Commenting on Jade’s appointment, Kelly Marshall said: “It’s fantastic that someone of Jade’s calibre has joined the business, and she will play a pivotal role in the next phase of Gateway2Lease’s growth.”