Leadership
The Mobility Executive Committee (Mobility ExCo)
The Mobility Executive Committee (Mobility ExCo) is led by Jon Lawes, who holds the role of European Managing Director for MHC Mobility in addition to his role as Managing Director for Novuna Vehicle Solutions. The ExCo are responsible for leading the day-to-day management of the Group, agreeing the European Mobility strategy consistent with MHCUK and Global strategy, and establishing a clear direction to enable the subsidiary MDs to develop local strategy for their respective areas of responsibility.
- Jon Lawes Back
- Nick Salkeld Back
- Koen Jansen Back
- Lilly Santosh Back
- Ryjan Rutgers Back
- Paul van der Meulen Back
- Roelof Hansman Back
- Keiji Manabe Back
Jon Lawes
European Managing Director
Jon has almost 30 years’ of experience in the fleet and leasing industry. Having occupied numerous roles throughout his career in vehicle leasing and mobility, he was appointed Managing Director of Novuna Vehicle Solutions (formerly Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions) in 2015. Under Jon’s leadership, the UK fleet has grown from circa 65,000 vehicles in 2016 to over 100,000 vehicles in 2022, underpinned by Novuna Vehicle Solutions’ unique ability to build, fund and manage any asset from cars and LCVs to plant equipment and machinery. This Total Asset Solutions proposition, introduced by Jon in 2017, also helps deliver sustainable fleet solutions with a focus on helping businesses reduce costs and improve efficiencies. Jon is passionate about sustainability and supporting customers to transition to a net zero fleet. He also supports MHC Mobility and Novuna’s mission of providing outstanding customer experiences. Under his leadership, the Novuna Vehicle Solutions team won the UK’s Fleet News award for UK Leasing Company of the Year for four consecutive years in a row, from 2019 to 2022 – a first in the industry. Jon’s leadership role extends beyond MHC Mobility and Novuna. He has been named in the Top 100 Industry Influencers for the past two years, having shaped the zero and low-carbon fleet industry. Jon also currently serves as Chair of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
Nick Salkeld
Chief Operating Officer
Nick Salkeld began his career in automotive finance and leasing in 1983, working with Ford Credit and, later, Nissan Finance. Nick became a Commercial Director for LeasePlan UK in 1998. Three years later, he was appointed the Managing Director of LeasePlan International before becoming Regional Senior Vice-President of LeasePlan Corporation. In 2014, Nick joined the Managing Board of LeasePlan Corporation as CCO, responsible for all 32 LeasePlan countries and 7,000 employees. Nick joined Hitachi Capital Corporation’s Vehicle Solutions Strategy Division (now Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc., Mobility Solutions Division), in 2018. Now as COO of MHC Mobility Europe, Nick is responsible for monitoring sales and operational performance across our European subsidiaries. He also leads on major projects and procurement opportunities.
Koen Jansen
Chief Financial Officer
Koen started his career in 1989 for the audit firm Ernst & Young. In 1992, he became a Financial Controller for LeasePlan Corporation. In 2001, he was appointed Financial Manager M&A and five years later, he took on the role as Regional Financial Director, overseeing Europe, Russia, UAE, India, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. Koen joined Hitachi Capital Corporations Vehicle Solutions Strategy Division (now Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc., Mobility Solutions Division) in 2018. As CFO of MHC Mobility Europe, he’s responsible for monitoring financial performance and risk management across the business and its European subsidiaries. He also develops financial synergies at a European level and supports with M&A opportunities.
Lilly Santosh
European Strategic Operations Manager
Having originally joined MHCUK in 2008 as PA to the MD of Vehicle Solutions, Lilly’s role evolved with the formation of the European group in 2013, when the first acquisition was made. Since then Lilly has played an integral role in building MHC Mobility’s group of businesses, gaining her APM Project Management qualification to successfully project manage each acquisition. Lilly later worked on several key integration projects such as the rebranding project for all nine businesses across Europe to the newly created MHC Mobility brand. More recently Lilly played a key role in project managing the legal transfer and subsequent integration of the MHC Mobility group of businesses as they transitioned from MHC Inc (Japan) ownership to the MHCUK group. Lilly’s focus now is on delivery of the Group’s European strategy across the countries, strengthening the group by leading the formation of specialist communities to facilitate best practice sharing and collaboration across all areas of the businesses, whilst ensuring alignment to MHCUK’s governance structures.
Ryjan Rutgers
Regional Managing Director, Germany & Austria
Ryjan Rutgers took his role as Country Manager of MHC Mobility Germany and Austria in March 2020. As a certified Lean Six Sigma expert, he was able to lead MHC Mobility Germany from a Small and Medium Business to a member of Mitsubishi HC Capital, one of the world's biggest leasing and financing companies. Further, he gained his extensive experience in B2B and B2C services, retail and importer activities by working as Managing Director and financial expert for international full service leasing companies. He describes himself as an energetic manager with a situational leadership style and extensive experience in B2B and B2C services, retail and importer activities. His approaches are pragmatic, solution-oriented and positive, using a balanced mix of management and leadership to focus on goals and success.
Paul van der Meulen
Regional Managing Director, Benelux
Paul joined MHC Mobility Netherlands in December 2019 as Finance Director, before being promoted to the role of Managing Director in 2023. Paul has an extensive background in finance and internal audit, including senior roles at large multinational corporations such as AT Bank, Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe BV and KPMG. Paul is a Chartered Accountant and has a Degree in Business Studies from the University of Groningen.
Roelof Hansman
Regional Managing Director, Poland & CEE
Roelof’s corporate career began at Kraft Foods, after which he joined LeasePlan Corporation where he served in varying roles and different markets, including his roles in the Corporate Strategy department, as Regional Finance Director for Northern Europe, and latterly as Finance Director for LeasePlan in Germany. Roelof’s tenure at LeasePlan was further highlighted by his seven-year leadership as Managing Director for LeasePlan Hungary and an additional three years for LeasePlan Sweden. In 2020 Roelof moved to Volvo Cars, bringing his expertise in fleet management to the Global Online Experience division, where he contributed to building the first direct and online B2B sales channel for an OEM. Subsequently he was responsible for the Fleet Strategy team and the Global Major Accounts team. Roelof speaks five European languages, holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Rotterdam School of Management at the University of Rotterdam, and has an MBA from the Erasmus University, Rotterdam School of Management Netherlands.
Keiji Manabe
General Manager, MHCUK
Keiji joined Hitachi Capital (former name of Mitsubishi HC Capital) in 2000, starting his career in an Asset Finance Sales & Marketing role in Japan. Over the next 8 years Keiji gained valuable experience of large corporate account management in Tokyo and Osaka, before moving to the UK in 2009 as a Japanese expat at Hitachi Capital UK PLC (now Mitsubishi HC Capital UK Plc), developing business relationships with Japanese companies in the UK and EU countries. When Keiji’s expat placement came to an end he moved back to Japan, where he gained valuable experience leading the Global Business Planning Division at Head Office in Tokyo. In 2022 Keiji returned back to the UK and re-joined Mitsubishi HC Capital UK as General Manager, where he is now responsible for developing our mobility and asset finance service offerings to Japanese companies in Europe. Keiji has a Degree in Economics from Yokohama National University in Japan.