Story: RALPH MORTON

CAP, the used car valuation experts, has appointed a new chairman to its board with plenty of business experience.

Arriving with 15 years under his belt at Dyson – the company that revolutionised the bagless vacuum cleaner – as well as the 2010 Orange Business Leader of the Year award, Martin McCourt promises to bring plenty of business acumen to CAP, which was recently purchased by private equity specialists Montagu in May.

Martin’s brief is to lead monthly board meetings and support CAP’s existing team of directors as they plan their way through a series of ambitious plans to drive growth through technological innovation and customer service.

He’s in a good position to do so. The ex-Dyson CEO managed to diversify the business of founder James Dyson from its original base of building bagless domestic vacuum cleaners to a £1 billion international company.  Martin also held leadership roles at Duracell, Mars and Toshiba.

CAP CEO, Ian Rendle, said: “Martin’s vast experience of a wide range of brands and markets is clearly of huge appeal to CAP and is another important step to gearing the business for growth. I am confident he will add great value, support and guidance in taking CAP forward in a way that we previously never dared to dream.”

Martin McCourt added: “I am delighted to be joining the CAP board at an exciting time for the business. The company is poised for growth and to keep delivering on innovation and customer service.  I look forward to working closely with the rest of the board, and the wider company, with a focus on supporting CAP’s development and positioning it as a leader in its field for years to come.”

As well as the CAP’s used car valuations, CAP also produces CAP Monitor, which is the leading residual values forecasting tool for the contract hire, business car leasing, daily rental, company car finance and insurance industries.