A LEADING figure in the motor industry for almost 30 years has been appointed Vice-Lord Lieutenant of County Durham

Lord Lieutenant Sir Paul Nicholson appointed Alasdair MacConachie following the retirement of Kit Bartram.

Mr Bartram becomes an Honorary Deputy Lieutenant.

Born in India, Mr MacConachie was brought up on a farm and educated in Zimbabwe, before following his father into the Army, serving with the 1st Battalion Midd-lesex Regiment.

After leaving the Army, he began his career in the finance, sales and marketing divisions of the motor industry, in 1973.

Mr MacConachie managed Ford Motor Credit Company's Home Counties operation and later took charge in the North of England and Scotland, before becoming commercial vehicles sales director for Sherwoods, one of the country's largest independent Vauxhall dealers, in 1991.

He was responsible for North Yorkshire and South Durham franchise activities, before assuming control of the company in 1983, overseeing an annual turnover increase from £6m to £30m.

Mr MacConachie, 56, has been a Deputy Lieutenant of County Durham since 1992, as well as being active in a wide range of other bodies and organisations, including being a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, chairman of Darlington and District Hospice and Darlington College of Technology.

He has also served as president of the Friends of Darlington Memorial Hospital, director of Tees Valley Partnership and a member of All Saints' Church Parochial Church Council.