Lucas Aftermarket Operations, a division of merged group
LucasVarity, has appointed its first PR manager.
Deborah Risby has been charged with building up an in-house PR
department from scratch, to support the division’s drive to increase
sales in eastern Europe and Asia.
Risby joins from Birmingham agency Seal. Previously she was group PR
manager at Boots, and spent four years as PR and media relations manager
at Cadbury.
LucasVarity formed from the merger of the two groups in September last
year, has seven divisions, each have responsibility for organising their
own PR. The group also has a corporate affairs department.
The division views western Europe as an established market for its
parts, service, and technical and diagnostic support to vehicle
manufacturers, and therefore sees potential growth elsewhere.
Countrywide Porter-Novelli will be retained as the division’s outside
agency.