Western Group supporter and Vauxhall PR director Denis Chick has been recognised for his services to journalists.
Denis’s five decades in the industry and nearly all of that in PR has been singled out by our Welsh Group colleagues who gave him special award at their annual dinner outside Tenby.
Vauxhall Director of Communications Denis Chick said, “I was surprised but highly honoured to receive the wonderful Welsh slate plaque recording my half-century in this industry.
“The British motor industry has given me a fair share of ups and downs but never a dull moment – time has fled by.”
Afterwards, outlining his career in the business, Denis said, “I started out of grammar school as a 4 year engineering apprentice with the Rover Company Limited, well pre-British Leyland, in 1965.
“My grandfather was service manager at Howells in Cardiff, and he got me started on cars by taking me into the showroom on a saturday morning so that I could pedal Austin J40s around.
“He taught me a lot technically and started me off on collecting brochures then my dad showed me how to service his car and cars took over my life. I chose not to go to Uni but to get a job where I could learn by using my hands.
“I ‘came out’ in vehicle research as a qualified engineer with ONC/HNC and then spent my life moving from engineering through Product Planning and Marketing into PR in 1984 – Montego launch was my baptism – and I left Rover in 2000 after 35 years.”
Denis joined Trafficmaster for two years and then GMUK in 2002 with a spell at GM Daewoo and worked on the Chevrolet transition in 2004 but is still best known today for his leadership of the Vauxhall PR operation as director and has been a great supporter of the annual WGMW driving day, and is pictured above at this year’s event. But he also belongs to a bus preservation group and regularly attends commercial vehicle events with his double-decker.
Robin is the longest serving chairman of The Western Group. He's been vice chairman or chairman for over ten years and oversees the annual Western Group PR Driving Day each summer assisted by the group committee and supported by group members.
He contributes to a number of outlets in Wales and the UK, including the Driving Force editorial syndication agency feeding the biggest regional news and feature publishers in Britain.
Robin specialises in the Welsh automotive sector and motor related businesses with interests in Wales and publishes WheelsWithinWales.uk which covers news, features, trade and motor sport in Wales.
