Three senior marketing hires at Hippo Motor Group

Hippo Motor Group has bolstered its marketing team with three senior appointments as it structures for future growth.

The award-winning Blackburn car dealership has recruited Ben Fox as head of marketing, Wayne Ainsworth as e-commerce manager and Umar Ditta as PPC manager.

Ben, from Rochdale, brings a wealth of experience to the business, having spent the last three years as head of marketing at EMEA’s largest parking aggregator, ParkVia and, prior to this, working as head of marketing for Hisense UK, group head of acquisition at JD Sports Fashion plc and SEO manager at AO.

Ben said: “I’m hoping to bring my experience in building in-house teams within large organisations to Hippo, with a mission of turning an exciting challenger brand into a market leader.”

“Hippo’s group managing director Tom Preston has built up an incredible business from scratch and I look forward to developing the various brand under the group umbrella as it enters an exciting new phase of growth.

Joining Ben in Hippo’s expanding marketing department is Wayne Ainsworth, appointed to manage Hippo Motor Group’s online propositions as e-commerce manager. 

Wayne’s previous managerial positions include roles at vehicle specialists Awesome GTI and The SL Shop, as well as a senior web designer role at corporate recovery firm, Begbies Traynor.

Wayne, of Chorley, said: “My role is to manage all the online propositions for Hippo Motor Group, ensuring they are performing as well as possible, actioning any changes required and analysing the data so we can continually develop and improve.

“I’m proud to be working for a local business with a strong history in the area, in a field I have a lot of experience and interest in.”

Completing the trio of hires is PPC manager Umar Ditta, of Great Harwood, who boasts over five years in the digital marketing sector. 

Umar said: “I have been appointed to manage the performance of the Hippo’s PPC portfolio across the group’s brands.

“I have long worked agency-side, so look forward to an in-house role within an expanding, friendly team and I have a personal interest in cars so this is a perfect role for me.”

Tom Preston said: “Hippo Motor Group has always been about providing opportunities to local talent and nurturing their careers, and we’re delighted to welcome Ben, Wayne and Umar to our 300-strong team.

“All three positions are fundamental to future commercial successes of the Group and we look forward to sharing some of those good news stories in months to come.”

The Hippo Motor Group comprises four companies that cover all consumer needs for the leasing and finance of new, used and prestige vehicles, including Hippo Leasing, Hippo Prestige, Hippo Motor Finance and the Hippo Service Centre.