People & Careers Ben appoints recent directors as part of strategic restructure Published: June 10, 2025 Author: James Lockwood Ben reshapes senior leadership team to support strategic transition. Ben, the UK charity supporting people in the automotive industry, has announced a series of senior leadership changes aligned with its new strategic focus on health and wellbeing services. The changes support the organisation’s transition away from delivering care and village services, following the recent handover of these operations to alternative providers.

The updated leadership team will work closely with CEO Rachel Clift, who stepped into the role in 2024.

Martin

Smith appointed Director of Finance, Governance &

• Impact Martin Smith takes on a central role overseeing Ben’s Finance, Technology, and Data &

• Insights teams. He will also lead on Charitable Impact during the interim period, working alongside frontline service leads to strengthen operational delivery. Smith brings over two decades of finance leadership experience in the benevolent charity sector. Matt Wigginton to lead Growth &

• Development Long-time team member Matt Wigginton has been appointed Director of Growth &

• Development. Since joining Ben in 2015, Wigginton has led on partnerships and fundraising. In his expanded remit, he will focus on income generation and business development to deepen sector engagement. New focus on awareness and experience Ellen Plumer has moved into the newly created role of Head of Awareness &

• Experience. Plumer, who has worked at Ben for ten years, will continue to oversee marketing and outreach while taking on responsibility for enhancing user experience across all touchpoints.



HR leadership formalised Sarah D’Addio has been confirmed as Head of HR, following her interim appointment in 2023. With over 20 years’ experience in operational and strategic HR roles, D’Addio now joins Ben’s senior leadership team on a permanent basis. Leadership departures The update also confirms the departures of three senior figures. Gary Burgham (HR Director), Zara Ross (Transfer Programme Director and former CEO), and Jonathan Cox (Finance Director) have stepped down from their roles. Cox will remain with the charity temporarily to support the final stage of the service transfer process. CEO’s perspective Commenting on the leadership changes, CEO Rachel Clift acknowledged the contributions of the outgoing team and welcomed the new appointments: “I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Gary, Zara, and Jonathan for their outstanding contributions, especially during a time of immense change and transition. Their leadership was instrumental in helping Ben refocus as a single-purpose charity dedicated to health and wellbeing support.” “With our new senior leadership team in place, we are well-positioned to expand our impact and reach more people across the automotive community.” ‍ Tagged with: Ben charity, automotive support, senior leadership, Rachel Clift, charity restructure, automotive industry wellbeing, automotive fundraising, sector support ‍ Disclaimer:



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