New Kwik-Fit Corporate Account Mgr to Sit in Mastermind Hot Seat

Newly promoted Kwik-Fit Fleet corporate account manager and sports fanatic Luke Penn will appear in the final of BBC Television’s ‘Sport Mastermind’, which will be broadcast shortly. Penn, 39, was among the 36 people selected from thousands of applicants to contest nine heats. The six highest scoring heat winners then qualified for the final, with Luke qualifying in fourth place after successfully answering two minutes of rapid fire questions on the Grand National and then two minutes of sports general knowledge questions.

Both the heats and final were filmed at BBC TV studios in Manchester with the quiz being hosted by well-known sports broadcaster Des Lynam. However, the final will also feature Luke at this year’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in conversation with British golf legend Nick Faldo, who will captain the European team that will take on the United States in the 2008 Ryder Cup.

Penn, who answered questions while sitting in the black chair made famous over the years in the original ‘Mastermind’, programme, said: “I enjoy a broad range of sports so thought I would have a go. I got through a telephone interview and a face-to-face interview and was surprised to win my heat. It was a very stressful ordeal and I was incredibly nervous both for the heat and the final. The discipline of revising and studying was very hard.”

When not sitting in the famous chair, however, Luke can be found at Kwik-Fit Fleet. He joined the company in September 2002. He joined Kwik-Fit Fleet as an area sales manager covering the south of England. Luke subsequently became a supervisor within the team, while retaining the area sales manager role before being promoted to national sales manager last year. Following his most recent promotion his former position has been taken up by Martin Towers, who has rejoined the company after leaving in 2000 following a six-year spell as national accounts manager handling relations with major contract hire and leasing companies.

Reporting to Kwik-Fit Fleet corporate accounts director Peter Bennett, Luke’s role of corporate accounts manager will focus on managing a portfolio of accounts with Britain’s top 50 contract hire and leasing companies. Meanwhile, Martin will manage a team of 11 area sales managers who are responsible for winning fast-fit business and working closely with small and medium-sized fleets, which can range from around 25 vehicles to several hundred units.

Martin has rejoined Kwik-Fit Fleet from Stapleton’s Tyre Services where he spent 18 months working on a fleet initiative for their dealers. In the intervening eight years he has also had spells at Tyreserve, which became AA Tyrefit, and worked elsewhere within the giant motoring organisation before joining National Fleet, a division of National Tyres, as commercial director.

There will be no cash prize for the winner of ‘Sport Mastermind 2008’, just the coveted title. But to find out if Luke has secured the coveted kudos, tune into BBC 2. The broadcaster has yet to announce a date for the final to be screened.