Justine Hawkins is appointed managing director of Ebbon Automotive, a new business area of Ebbon Group.

The web-based technology provider to the automotive contract hire and leasing sector has recently restructured into three distinct business units:

• Ebbon Automotive

• Ebbon Compliance

• Ebbon Intelligence

Hawkins, who was most recently chief commercial office at Ebbon Group in a career with the Oxford-based company that spans 10 years, will be responsible for Leaselink, a leading e-procurement platform; moDel (new vehicle delivery platform); and Stockviewer, a campaign management tool.

Hawkins will also oversee the group’s expansion in its European operation in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy. Commenting on her new role, Hawkins said:

“We are growing the business at a time of great change within the industry, not just with our existing, long-established and market-leading core solutions that the fleet and leasing market knows so well, but in new areas, countries and customers, especially the vehicle manufacturers, along with new market channels - both B2B and B2C.”

A further appointment is Steve Larkin, who moves up to become group technical director after more than 20 years with the company. The company, owned by a private equity group, said it was looking for acquisitions over the next 12 months as it expanded its market presence.