Vickers Oils announces new managing director

UK-based independent lubricant company Vickers Oils announced the appointment of Chris Wholley as managing director of Benjn. R. Vickers & Sons Ltd,  succeeding Peter Vickers, effective 30 March 2020.

Wholley has been deputy managing director for several years, as well as technical director since 2002. He brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge of the Vickers ways of working, which will enable the culture of the organisation to remain unchanged, thereby allowing the business to continue uninterrupted with its growth plans.

Vickers, who served as managing director for the last 25 years, will continue as chairman of Vickers Oils for the foreseeable future.  This handover of the role of managing director is part of a management succession plan drawn up several years ago to support Vickers Oils’ continued development in the future.

Vickers Oils started trading in Leeds, UK,  in 1828. From its beginnings in supplying oil for the woollen textile industry, the company added marine lubricants in 1880 and built up an export business that now accounts for almost all its output. It remains a private, independent company now led by the fifth and sixth generation of the Vickers’ family.