Andrew Evans Elected as Northern Group Chair

The Northern Group of Motoring Writers has a new chair, with Andrew Evans stepping up into the role after four years as vice chair, following the Annual General Meeting on July 20.

Andrew succeeds Andy Harris, who has served as chair since 2019. Traditionally the Group’s chair changes every two years, with the vice chair taking on the role, though the Group chose to keep Andy in place for a second term following a rather turbulent couple of years which saw great disruption across the industry.

Over the past four years, Andy has overseen a shift in the Group’s profile, opening membership from traditional print and digital writers to those working in AV media such as podcasts and video. There’s also more use of social media, which Andy will continue to manage, and a new website.

Meanwhile Andrew has been busy building that — or rather this — website, first introduced in 2019, and will also continue in that role alongside the chair.

With Andrew vacating the vice chair role, the attending Group members needed to select a new person for the position. In what was the best-attended meeting in the Group’s history, it was Annabelle Quirk — who also co-manages the Group’s YouTube channel with husband Ben — who was chosen.

Other Group officer positions were also decided in the meeting, with no changes other than those required. The means Alan Domville will continue in his roles as general secretary, welfare officer, and auditor, Frederic Manby remains as meetings secretary and membership secretary, and Derrick Grocock is treasurer — succeeding Bernard Gent.

Founder member David Whinyates continues to edit the Group’s newsletter, while Andrew will continue as website editor, Andy as social media manager, and Annabelle as YouTube manager alongside Ben. The Group’s executive and sub-committees remain unchanged.