Richard Austen – Commercial Director
Spending the first ten years of his career in the accountancy profession, in 1979 Richard moved to Royal Doulton working in the then retail division. After four years he then moved into the processing industry with a small chemical firm in South Cheshire, and in the late eighties moved into the milk processing industry. Following this, Richard moved into the engineering world as Commercial Director of a group of companies producing heating equipment and gas fires.
|
|
In 1991 Richard, along with his wife Elizabeth, established a consulting group of companies specialising in assisting small businesses to survive start up and growth. Richard continues his consulting work, with some notable successes including introducing Hungarian wine to the multiple retailers in the UK (funded by the European Union), latterly gaining the first ever EU funded grant for the design and build of a prototype vehicle, and also gaining a large DEFRA grant for a south Cheshire estate to establish an innovative business ‘park’ where others had failed. It was whilst providing management support and consulting services to a Cheshire based vehicle restoration company that he met Neil Smith and Adrian Rivers-Bland and together conceived CRR.
|
Adrian Rivers-Bland – Restoration Director
Adrian served his engineering apprenticeship in Manchester working on high performance cars such as Aston Martin, whilst studying for his qualifications in mechanical engineering. From these roots he moved through various posts to be part of the world water speed record attempt in the late seventies, and then into restoring high value vintage and historic cars and racing cars.
|
|
By the mid eighties he was working with Peter Chapman, one of the leading exponents in the UK of ash framing and panel making, restoring and building replicas of Bentley 8 litres and Speed Sixes. Some twenty projects being completed over ten years. Peter and Adrian still collaborate on projects from time to time. Adrian then continued providing specialist services to other restoration and motorsport businesses through the 1990’s up to 2004 when he became a key component of the establishment of CRR.
|
|
With the growth of interest in historic motorsport and inspired by the enthusiasm and depth of knowledge he found at CRR he joined the company in 2009.
|
