Russell Forbes named as Nissan GB’s new Fleet Director

2026/01/15

Nissan GB is delighted to announce that Russell Forbes will join the company as its new Fleet Director next month.

Russell will bring more than 20 years of automotive industry experience to his new role – he has a strong background across the retail, OEM, fleet and financial services sectors.

His career includes senior retail leadership roles at dealer principal level, in addition to regional and national roles at Nissan GB and Audi UK covering new and used cars and fleet.

He will join Nissan after stepping down from his position as Sales Director at Santander Leasing. His breadth of experience gives him a deep understanding of dealer operations, OEM fleet strategy and fleet funding partnerships.

Taking up his new role on February 16th, Russell joins Nissan at an exciting time as the business continues to accelerate the electrification of its product portfolio.

He will be focused on working closely with the manufacturer's dealer partners and FN50 funders to drive growth and unlock further fleet success.

Russell takes over from Nissan's current Fleet Director, Bryan Curtis, who is retiring.

Ed Jones, Sales Director at Nissan GB, said: ''We are delighted that Russell Forbes is joining the company – it's an exciting time for Nissan in the UK and there will be no shortage of fleet-oriented opportunities to exploit during the coming year and beyond. We are sure he will enjoy the challenge and we extend the warmest of welcomes.

''At the same time, we offer our heartfelt thanks to Bryan Curtis for all that he has done during his time as Fleet Director and send him every good wish for a long and happy retirement.''

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About Nissan in the UK

Designed, engineered, built and loved by Britain: Nissan employs around 7,000 people across the UK including at its design centre in Paddington, London, and its R&D engineering centre in Cranfield. Sunderland is home to the UK's biggest single car plant, which builds two of the nation's best-selling cars – the Juke and Qashqai.

These models will soon be joined by the European version of the new LEAF, which will be manufactured in Sunderland as part of Nissan's EV36Zero project.

EV36Zero is Nissan's vision for the future of sustainable manufacturing – a blueprint that will transform Sunderland Plant into a flagship EV hub, bringing together electric vehicles, renewable energy and battery production. This is part of Nissan's goal to become a truly sustainable company and usher in a cleaner, safer and more inclusive world.

Files

• NMGB fleet director.pdf (110 KB)