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Voting for Directors – February 2026 – Vote now open

Election

Following Tim Rycroft’s recent appeal for new Directors to join the Board, we have received applications from Red Mackinnon (Joint London Regional Officer and CLK Model Register Captain) and Andy Holmes (Lead Archivist and Joint 190SL Model Register Captain).

The vote to elect Red and Andy will be by on-line ballot of the Members in the usual way.  The vote is now open and most Members will receive an email from the Club inviting them to vote for the candidates. The email has the subject: “Mercedes-Benz Club – Voting for Directors, February 2026”.  Follow the instructions in that email to cast your vote.

If you have not received such an email, please check your spam folder.  If it is not there, you may not have notified the Club office of your correct, up-to-date email address.  In that case, you can vote using the link below. You will need your membership number.  If you are joint members, there are special instructions provided to allow two sets of votes from the same address.

The voting is now open at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J3TD76B and will close on the 13th March 2026. The results will be available on the Club’s website soon after at https://mercedes-benz-club.co.uk/club-news/

Candidate: Red Mackinnon

Red has been a Club member for 19 years and has been proposed by Andy Holmes and seconded by Catherine Barlow.

Red Mackinnon’s statement:

Born in Kent and moving up to London in 1980, I worked in the funeral business for a number of years.  It was here that I met my wife and also had my first experience of being part of a board by becoming chairman of the southern division of the British Institute of Embalmers. Leaving the funeral business in 1991, I worked for the Metropolitan police for the next 30 years before retiring in 2020.I have always liked 4 seat cabriolet cars and owned a Triumph Stag for 6 years, travelling everywhere both here and abroad. Later, for a significant birthday, I treated myself to a Mercedes-Benz W202 C240, joining the Mercedes-Benz club in 2007 after having purchased my first CLK.
I also became the CLK Model Register Captain on the suggestion of the then chairman Ian Keers that same year. During my time with the club I have had responsibility in many roles including Model Register Co-ordinator, London Regional Officer & National Events Director. If successful in this application, I would like to return to my former role as director for the club’s National Events where I would be involved with the organising and planning of those events throughout 2026 and beyond. Looking to the future, I would discuss strategy for future National Events for our club with the board to see if we are to continue with tried and trusted formulas or to look now to see if perhaps refining our bigger events is the preferred way forward, whilst still balancing ‘desire over cost’.
I have worked hard in the past to try to address the concerns of some members regarding the expense of some events as well as their geographical locations and will continue to do so when planning for the future. I need to remember that not only are we always looking at gaining new members, but also at the same time, to keep in mind those members who have been supporting our club for a long time and who have attended our bigger events over the years, as they have shown themselves to be the very backbone of our club and we do not wish to lose ‘their’ support. With the fast-changing face of many clubs, car or otherwise, we are having to constantly re-invent ‘ourselves’ to keep things fresh and interesting. By definition as a ‘car club’ we should try to keep some ‘driving’ elements involved but more importantly, general enjoyment of our events is what I hope to aim for which I am glad to say is still currently at the heart of every event that we do.
I am up for the challenge and with a good team working with me I am sure that we can organise together events that are of interest to as many members across the club as possible, building on our past experiences.

Candidate: Andy Holmes

Andy has been a Club member for twenty years and has been proposed by Clive Williams and seconded by Red Mackinnon.

Andy Holmes’ statement:

I have been a club member since 2005 and held positions within it since 2013, firstly as a member of the Archive Team and subsequently as the Lead Archivist and 190SL Model Register Captain. I will use the knowledge and connections that I have developed within these roles to work effectively in the role of Director and contribute to enhancing the club for the benefit of the members.
I have previously owned a range of Mercedes-Benz vehicles including C Class, E Class. ML Class and currently a CLK W208 alongside my 190SL. I enjoy restoring and maintaining my classic cars and will continue to seek opportunities at meetings, and via the Forum, to share my knowledge with fellow club members. I am a founder and the Honorary President of another classic car club and have therefore seen the challenges faced by clubs from more than one perspective. I have worked previously with fellow club committee members to address a range of challenges and resolve them and will follow a similar approach with the Directors and officials of our Club.
My career background is from within Financial Services and Consulting, this has required me to lead large projects, budgets and relationships with people. These capabilities are easily transferable to the support of our club in the role of Club Director. I have also been the Director of my own company, specializing in leadership development, as well as the Director, in the initial formation stages, of a community interest company. As such I am familiar with the statutory role of a company director and capable of performing it to a high standard.
I am married with one adult daughter; all three of us have an interest in classic cars. My wife, Theresa, was a co-founder with me of a classic car club and my daughter, Sophie, was a member of the Club Archive Team, in its days at Brooklands. We were recipients, along with the other Archive team members, of the Club’s Scott-Moncreiff award for outstanding contributions to the Club Archive.  As a Director I will aim to continue this high level of club service and enable others to gain the maximum benefit and pleasure from their club membership and involvement.