Danny Griffiths has become human resources director for UK operations at Nissan.

Griffiths, who was previously personnel manager at the car manufacturer's Sunderland plant, will not only be in charge of HR in the UK, but will also be responsible for a drive to improve efficiency in the company across Europe. In addition he will have responsibility for the early-phase HR planning for Nissan's new manufacturing plant being built in St Petersburg, Russia,and will oversee the management of a global training centre based in Sunderland. Griffiths said: "I'm looking forward to my new responsibilities and the challenge of improving our HR level of service through improved efficiencies and common processes."