Member Article

UKFast hire harnesses power of data

Manchester hosting firm UKFast has further bolstered its analysis and strategic planning capabilities with the appointment of Stephanie Potts as Commercial Manager.

Potts, a CIMA qualified management accountant, joins the company following a successful period as European Commercial Manager at online used car trader WeBuyAnyCar.com. She is tasked with implementing more systematic use of data analysis into all parts of the business, improving performance and accelerating the firm’s growth.

UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones MBE said: “As UKFast grows I realise that there are many more numbers within the business, beyond the ones processed for the accounts. Steph is the first analyst we’ve recruited to help us use the numbers to make better decisions.

“We’ve grown the UKFast team from 200 to more than 300 in the last year. As a small businessman you try and do a lot of decision making yourself, acting on gut and instinct. There’ll always be some element of that, but there’s nothing better than making an instinctive decision and then having the data back up the idea. The answer is always in the numbers.

“I’ve gone from somebody who’s proud of only having one accountant in the business to wanting hundreds of them.”

UKFast has enjoyed 17 consecutive years of organic growth, generating revenues of £34.3m in 2015. Earlier this year the firm opened up the option of a £40m bank facility from RBS to fund acquisitions and drive new growth.

Potts said: “I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and using the numbers to implement a layer of KPIs. Designing the right KPIs gives people an even greater focus and makes sure each department’s main objective is aligned to the business objectives. I want to help everyone pull in the same direction so UKFast can keep growing at the rate it has been doing.

“UKFast’s journey to where it is now has been fantastic and I couldn’t be more excited about being part of the next stage. I’m passionate about transferring analytics and data into real-world solutions that make a real difference to internal systems and to UKFast customers. I know there’s a huge opportunity for growth at UKFast.

“It felt like a perfect fit straight away. I love the way Lawrence runs the business. He is such a great motivator. You step out after talking with him feeling on top of the world.”

The firm’s recruitment drive continues as it works to meet current demand and develop new systems, bringing new products and services to the market.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tim Parker .