Ian Twinley MBE DL
Ian Twinley joined Ford Motor Company in 1979 as an Engineering Trainee. He finished his apprenticeship in 1983 and then held a number of appointments in Ford of Britain, Ford of Europe and Ford U.S.A during a 22year period. Leadership roles included Marketing for Europe, Fleet & Leasing across Europe, Financial Management & Accounting, Strategic Acquisition and Brand Management. Ian also attended a Ford sponsored Management MBA Program.
In 2002 he joined John Grose Group as Chairman. John Grose is a multi-franchise Dealer Group established in 1888 with a turnover of £200 million, employing 350 staff. In 2004 he took a controlling interest. The Suffolk based Group has won the Ford Chairman’s award for Customer Satisfaction 22 times, John Grose is ranked one of the top Ford Dealers in the Country.
In 2016 Ian stepped down from serving 10 years as the UK Vice President of Group1 automotive, a Fortune 500 Retailer that owns 50 UK Dealerships employing 3500 people. Ian took on the role as a start-up and grew it through multiple acquisitions.
As an employer of Reservists and Cadet Force Adult Volunteers, Ian travelled to Afghanistan in 2008 and spent time with Suffolk based reservists serving in Kandahar and Camp Bastion. Ian was appointed Chairman of the East Anglia Reserve Forces & Cadets Association on April 1st 2018, having chaired the Employer Engagement Board since 2012. He served a five year term on the main board of the RFCA as well as the Strategy and Engagement committees, stepping down in March 2023.
Ian was Chairman of Team Ipswich for five years and a Trustee of the Inspire Suffolk Charity for three years. He is a Suffolk New College Ambassador and loves spending time motivating the students. In 2014 Ian was instrumental in establishing the annual Suffolk Skills Show, where 5000 young people engage with over 100 local businesses, the event was then established in Norfolk by the RNAA. Ian is currently the Honorary President of the Norfolk and Suffolk Skills shows. The University of Suffolk made Ian an honorary fellow in October 2018.
Ian is a Patron of the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity and Chairman of the Essex Dog Day Committee. He and his wife are both keen fundraisers, with events at their Essex home over the last fifteen years raising over £750,000 for local charities. They both have a passion for historical buildings. They spent fifteen years carefully renovating a Georgian Rectory that had been lying empty for five years. They have since moved and for the past 17 years have been caring for their Georgian listed parkland property. In the past seven years they have been renovating a neighbouring Grade II* listed Georgian property now fully open as a wedding venue. Historic England was fully supportive for the change of use and the addition of 10,000 square feet of new Orangery space to ensure a sustainable future.
For his services to charity and youth he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Essex in 2012. Ian is a Member of Court at the University of Essex; he is also a Regional Ambassador for the new Cambridge Children’s Hospital. Ian was appointed as an MBE in the King’s 2023 Birthday honours list for voluntary service to Defence and to the community in the East of England.