Leasing company Alphabet has appointed a new UK chief operating officer.
Uwe Hildinger has taken on the role having moved across from Alphabet International in Munich, where he spent the past three years as chief sales officer.
He replaces Nigel Fletcher, who is retiring after more than 40 years working in the leasing industry. He has spent nearly a year as interim chief operating officer.
Alphabet’s UK chief executive officer Nick Brownrigg said: “Firstly, I’d like to express my sincere personal thanks to Nigel for the significant contribution he’s made to the Alphabet business in a relatively short time.
“We have been aware of Nigel’s intention to retire for a while and over the past several months we have conducted an extensive global search for this vitally important role.
“We interviewed a number of extremely high-calibre candidates but Uwe’s vision, personal qualities and breadth of experience were unrivalled.”
Brownrigg said Hildinger’s qualifications for the role included having previously served as chief operating officer for Alphabet in Germany, and working for other leasing and fleet management operations before joining Alphabet in 2008.
He added: “Uwe joins us from Alphabet International where he has been a key part of the global leadership team and we’re extremely pleased to welcome him to the Alphabet family in the UK.”