Following a line of distinguished inductees into the What Van? Hall of Fame, this year the honour goes to Andy Picton. 

Whilst What Van? acknowledges Andy is on the panel of judges for the What Van? Awards, he has had no input into his nomination. Meanwhile, his fellow judges and the magazine editor are of the opinion that he is a deserving entrant into the Hall of Fame.

Although perhaps a name not familiar to many outside of the van industry, for many years Andy has been a source of impartial opinion and insight, his views well respected not only on the latest vans being launched by manufacturers but also on industry matters, legislation and the move to zero emissions. 

Currently heading up the CV team at Glass’s, Andy is responsible for the issue of accurate valuation data supplied to subscribers, which include the motor trade, finance houses and remarketing organisations – data is critical to the operation of these companies that rely on accuracy and accountability. 

Although better known for the current value product that is traditionally known as Glass’s Guide, Glass’s also produces a residual value forecasting product – this too is overseen by Andy. 

Credibility is vital for Glass’s subscribers, which is why typically every month will see him attending a number of physical LCV auctions, meeting manufacturers to discuss their confidential future product introductions, attending a product preview, a driving event somewhere in Europe and talking to his huge amount of contacts about diverse matters, issues and products. 

Using this vast amount of knowledge, Andy’s views are sought after by numerous industry publications and bodies (What Van? included) and his name is regularly seen in print and digital media. Readers recognise that his output is rational, unbiased and not clouded with unsubstantiated rumours or an agenda – from himself or his employer. 

In addition, he is approachable and can often be seen engaging with buyers and vendors in the auction hall, each seeking his opinion on anything from the value of a van about to be bought to political issues such as the increasing number of low-emission zones or the challenges faced by van users in adapting to operating an electric van.

Andy’s career in the industry stretches back 34 years, commencing with Barclays Mercantile Business Finance where he worked in the vendor sales CV division. 

This was followed by a spell with LeasePlan UK where, as a commercial vehicle analyst, he helped to introduce a robust system-based function to enable the company to set commercial vehicle residual values for the company’s public sector subsidiary, Automotive Leasing. In this role he valued both light and heavy commercial vehicles up to 44 tonnes, and implemented a series of specialist vehicle residual value matrices to allow values to be set on vehicles, such as refuse vehicles, gritters, gully emptiers, road sweepers, ambulances, PTS vehicles and welfare buses. 

The year of 2002 saw Andy join the team at Glass’s, in its then offices in Weybridge, as a commercial vehicle editor. This entailed valuing over 15,000 new and used light commercial vehicles each month for inclusion in Glass’s CV Used and Forecast future residual value products, providing a variety of industry related functions as well as working closely with manufacturers, leasing companies, auction houses, franchised dealers and independent traders to gain a comprehensive understanding of the commercial vehicle market. Andy also analysed new product pricing and specification data with a view to providing future and used residual values. 

An internal promotion in 2016 saw Andy take up the helm of senior commercial vehicle editor, heading up the team and taking ownership of the output. Ensuring that strict deadlines were met so that customers received their data on time every month, his responsibilities widened and his remit now meant he had to ensure all new and used values were available in the database. At this point, Andy was tasked with writing the editorial content that accompanied the monthly guides and providing insight to the press when required. In 2017 Andy took the new title of chief commercial vehicle editor.

Andy lives in Basingstoke and lists his interests as football, music and – perhaps unsurprisingly – commercial vehicles.