Vehicle leasing group Zenith Provecta has restructured its board after moving chief executive Andrew Cope into a new full-time role as executive chairman focusing on business growth.

The Calverley-based company is making the changes following a recent deal in which Morgan Stanley Private Equity took a 60 per cent stake in Zenith.

It means Mr Cope has worked his way up through the ranks since joining in 1989 as a fleet sales executive.

He became sales and marketing manager and then director and was promoted to managing director in 1998. He has guided the company through four management buy-outs, led the acquisition of Provecta Car Plan in May 2008 and the partnership with Morgan Stanley earlier this year. Tim Buchan, formerly group operations director, has become chief executive, Ian Hughes joins as commercial director and Ben Creswick is business development director.

Andrew Cope said: “The last few months have been very exciting.

“The Morgan Stanley deal is now complete, and the new management structure will enable the company to continue to grow while maintaining our focus on providing excellent service as a fleet funding firm.”