Former BP retail director Graham Sims has been appointed non-executive chairman of HKS Holdings to lead a new accelerated investment, growth and development strategy.

HKS, which will be ranked sixth in the new Top 50 Indies published later this month, is owned by the Thakrar family and Graham commented: “I am truly delighted to be joining HKS and working with the Thakrar’s whom I have known for many years. As someone who has played a part in all areas of this marketplace, I was highly impressed with their determined aspirations, growth and development plans so far.

“In my mind, they are one of the most progressive businesses in this sector and I wanted to join them so I could be a part of it and help their aspirations come into reality.

“The key aspect for me is utilising and leveraging my past, external experience and working with them to build accelerated investment and development options for the business.”

Shane Thakrar, chief executive at HKS Holdings, said: “On behalf of the entire company and the Thakrar family, we’re pleased to announce the appointment of Graham Sims as non-executive chairman within HKS Holdings.

“Following the strong growth of HKS in recent years, we’re looking at an increased focus on a growth strategy and Graham’s appointment will be the catalyst for the increasing the pace of our business, bringing with him the years of experience and expertise to guide our development forward.

We’re looking forward to seeing the implementation of various ideas and concepts backed by Graham, moving into varying consumer opportunities and increasing our offering to customers.”

In the past year HKS has more than doubled in size, taking over fellow Top 50 Indie Brobot and buying seven Shell service stations, to take its portfolio to almost 60 sites. It says a number of transactions will increase this figure in the coming weeks.

With the conclusion of recent deals,HKS expects annualised turnover to reach £250m, representing growth of over 150%.