Meet the Team

Melanie Banks-Browne, CEO

I have been involved in the motor trade most of my working career having studied in London after my A Levels and working for large development companies in legal entities and legal firms returning to Suffolk and joining the family business "for a year" - some 30 years later as well as working and raising a family I am still here.... and still building the brand albeit with a much larger number of colleagues and with different brands. We have a great team of staff who are a pleasure to work with on a day to day basis and coming to work is a continued joy.

Mark Evans, Group Director - Cambridge

I have been with John Banks for ten years now and joined the Group following over ten years with Manheim Auctions commencing my time at John Banks out of Bury St Edmunds where I relocated to from Essex and now am based in Cambridge overseeing all teams for the whole of the Cambridge locations – all five currently. I have the drive from just outside Bury St Edmunds to Cambridge each day which enables me to catch up on phone calls and contact with the other Directors on a daily basis. Having been made a shareholder in 2015 my time with John Banks seems 24/7 but I am a motor dealership man at heart and love the business we are in and the people I meet every day of the week.

Mark Banks

I started my life off as a Professional motocross rider and became British 125cc MX Champion in 1988 but sadly due to a bad leg injury in 1991 I finished racing and joined the sales team at the single franchised dealership in Bury St Edmunds where we started to grow the John Banks Group and the first acquisition I was involved in was Ipswich in 1998. From then on I have led the sales force throughout the years of change and am enjoying it as much now as I did when I started even though we now have 165 staff compared to only 11 when I joined. I am continually looking for our next avenue or venture so its always an onward march

Justin Banks

Like my brother - we come from a family of motocross competitors - and having been encouraged by my family to race as a schoolboy I also followed that career path but attended college at the same time getting qualifications in business in order to move in to the family business at a later date - I did this in 1993 and having raced Suzuki machinery I was contacted in 1995 by Suzuki who invited us to open a Suzuki franchise at Bury St Edmunds which I have headed since its opening in 1996 with the purpose built showroom for Suzuki Ipswich opening in 2001 and have continued to head the brand through to today - we still have some of those first staff that joined me who are now part of the family.

Chris Hepton

Having been with the John Banks Group since 1999 after they opened Ipswich I am a self confessed "Honda man" having previously been with Osborne's at Colchester I have been involved in the Honda franchise all my working career and have been happy to grow with the brand and the John Banks Group having become more involved in the day to day operations throughout the group as we have expanded over the years but still heading up the Ipswich site although a lot of my time is now split between all the sites as all the Directors work closely together on a day to day basis at John Banks which is what makes it a great environment to work in - tough but great!

Andy Smith

Like most of my colleagues at John Banks - my whole career has been involved in the motor industry albeit on the finance side as a qualified Accountant working with ASE who are motor industry Auditors and professionals in the development of Automotive sites in the UK - prior to joining John Banks I worked for them based in Manchester but living in Derbyshire and relocated to Bury St Edmunds in 2009 where I am now settled down with my wife and three children and growing with John Banks Group. Working with the family means that you become part of the family and the Banks family are a great team to be part of the journey with.