Alan Steel, Whale Tankers' Regional Sales Manager for Scotland, has retired and said farewell to colleagues and customers at the CV Show.

Chris Anderson (pictured right), commercial director for Whale Tankers, said: 'We're obviously very sad to be saying goodbye to Alan, but everyone at Whale wishes him a long, happy and healthy retirement.

'Alan has made a fantastic contribution to the sales effort at Whale over the years which has had a considerable impact on our business success. 

'He has been an excellent ambassador in representing our interests in Scotland. We'll miss him from both a professional and personal point of view'

Alan (pictured left) said: 'I've had a great time during my years at Whale and I've had the privilege of working with some very knowledgeable and highly skilled people within the company.  I've learned a great deal about the tanker industry as a whole, having been involved in all aspects of the business.

'I will miss working with all my colleagues, particularly everyone in the sales team, but I have to say that I won't miss the 50,000 miles of travelling I've been doing every year, although this has been an important part of my job'

Alan began his career with British Leyland before moving into the bus sector working for Western Scottish as a PSV mechanic. 

His tanker experience was initially gained while working for a contract hire company where he worked on council vehicles before moving into fleet management, involving plant vehicles including tankers.  It was this that later led him to join Whale where he moved into a sales role and worked at Whale for more than 10 years.

Scottish born and bred Alan originally hailed from Dalbeattie in Kirkcudbrightshire and after spending time in Dumfries and Lanark, he now lives close to the Cairngorm National Park.

Alan added: 'I wish everyone at Whale continued success for the future.  In the meantime, I'm looking forward to doing some travelling throughout Europe with our caravan and to playing some golf'

Robert Frew has taken over as regional sales manager for Scotland.