H.R. Owen PLC

From inception, we crafted a Multi-Year Agenda aligning with Business Objectives, slashing Marketing and IT expenses by 33%. Achieving stability, security, and efficiency for staff and customers was paramount. Breaking even in 36 months, we exceeded cost reduction goals amidst the shifting automotive sector landscape.
A comprehensive overhaul of Sales and Marketing Cloud addressed underutilisation. Resetting, reconfiguring, and relaunching in stages involved diverse departments, yielding practical service use cases. Concurrently, internal audits triggered a strategic shift to a cloud-first approach. Migrating from on-premises services improved Recovery Time and Point Objectives significantly.
Transitioning the entire business to O365 within 3 months, coupled with Single Sign-On solutions, enhanced security and streamlined processes. Over 10 API services automated tasks between CRM and DMS, connecting with OEMs, FCA compliance, and more.
Operational changes yielded remarkable results, including an 80% increase in CRM opportunities through the Autotrader API, streamlined data management, and advanced reporting capabilities. Digitising operations enhanced flexibility and efficiency, reducing costs and facilitating remote administration.
Implementation of Docusign for order confirmations and amendments improved cash flow, while environmental sustainability initiatives eliminated nearly 100,000 prints annually. Automation optimized stock funding with Lombard, securing a 0.5% base rate.
Key stats highlight successful MS Power BI implementation, providing comprehensive data retrieval and integration with Google Ads and Salesforce CRM. By Q1 2024, live data for Leads and Calls is anticipated, with a full end-to-end process by June 2024.
Our system, fully automated and accessible on various devices, ensures continuous availability, enabling thorough analysis of profit outcomes across sales, channels, and marketing campaigns

Chief Technical Officer

Looking after all things Digital for what is probably the coolest brand in the Automotive sector. Working at Board level with some of the most accomplished and professional people I have had the pleasure to meet.
An amazing opportunity with an already amazing brand.

Digital Director

Magic Pocket

Heading up the commercial and contractual side of Magic Pocket, I founded the business in 2016 and have since signed and completed work with some large NPO's in the UK, Comic Relief and Incivtus Games being the two largest. I not only won the business and agreed the commercials from a contractual point of view but also has input into the overall design and structure of the technical systems needed along with my co-director Simon.

The working team at MP have a really close relationship with each other and also with Amazon and their infrastructure team. Working with such large clients has given us a superb standing at Amazon where an internal article was written about our design work on the Wikipedia Stack we created and implemented for Comic Relief and their legacy media.

The business is a tech start-up, we are nimble enough to work with larger corporates and smaller SME/SMB clients which has enabled us to thrive in a tightly guarded space.

Director

iVendi Limited

Heading up Online Retailing at iVendi, I have already made a huge impact on the day the day running of the business bringing a wealth of industry and retailer knowledge to the table. The Online Retailing product suite has now been modularized into bite size chunks allowing retailers to enter the space at their own pace with support and guidance from Brett and his team. During the initial stages I have been engaging a section of key AM50 Retailers about their pain points & challenges in this new digital era and working this information into the Online Retiling products.

I have also been working alongside the Head of OEM Relationships to bring an in-depth technical aspect to the table and to understand what the manufacturers are trying to achieve from the data available. Insight is key as the industry moves forward and having actionable data allows Retailers and OEM's alike to not just look backwards with reports and accounts but to look and plan forwards with live data and custom dashboards meaning peer level actionable insight is just a fingertip away at any level of the business.

Using the many industry leading contacts, I have means that I have worked with and have access to some of the greatest digital frameworks in Europe including CRO / SEO and User Experience experts and trainers are just a phone call away.

Head of Online Retailing

Harwoods Group

Harwoods was a 13 site, slightly disjointed business with the potential to be something much bigger when I joined in 2011. The business had been one of my clients whilst working for Manheim so we had a mutual respect from day 1 which worked really well.

With no Social Presence, a disjointed approach to marketing and no true brand to stand behind, this was the focus of the first 2 years. Bringing the locations together to create a powerful brand and rebranding the website helped create the recognition that Harwoods now enjoy. We took their Social audience from under 1000 to over 50,000 in 5 years and created a number of custom audiences, now used to market effectively for both lead generation ROI measurement.

With Social going from strength to strength, I rebuilt the website 3 times in my 6-year tenure, the last version won 2 Awards in 2015 and 2016 for Best Website. Traffic rose and we had a wealth of data coming into the business which was the basis of the insight project started in 2015 where I was initially challenged by the board to reduce costs on Autotrader while keeping the volume of leads.

To do this I enrolled the services of Tim @ TRSDigital to help build the concept and start the process of migrating our website onto a separate AWS instance so we could effectively track our customer journeys and proximate cause of any CTA or Submission. The project spawned a plethora of reports and not only did we reduce spend on Autotrader by nearly 30% but we kept the level of enquiries static. We generated stock reporting for different levels of the business by location to a very granular level monitoring pricing, saleable stock, reduction forecasting and purchase lists for the group buyers.

We took a local brand to be recognised Nationwide, enjoyed a rise in web traffic of over 350% and from this, and the work we put into making the CRM systems as near to bullet proof as we could, an enormous rise in logged Enquiries and subsequent Vehicle Sales across the board.

Group Marketing Manager

Manheim Retail Services

Manheim Retail Services are the largest and highest volume wholesale vehicle auction company in the world. Manheim provides services including financing, transportation, recovery, body repair, dealership management systems, dent repair and remarketing technology. They are renowned for using online tools to connect buyers and sellers around the globe. 

Key areas of expertise include: developing and managing multiple accounts over a wide geographical area to the value of £1.6m; driving profitability through sales of incremental products & services; design and delivery of manufacturer approved training programmes to the dealer network; and affecting new business growth by utilisation of telephone & face to face marketing techniques.

In July 2009 Brett was asked to join the Online Development Team within Portfolio to use his Analytical skill set to both find and research new ways of online marketing and to help analyse Portfolio's and Manheim's current offerings. Working on their Mobile offerings and Future Marketing Products while still managing in excess of 240 premier client accounts within the UK.

Reporting to the National Account Director, the key deliverables of the role focus on maximizing profitability from new and existing clients; adhering to manufacturer KPI's; and new business development.
Designed and maintained an efficient CRM process to ensure all key clients are managed on a regular basis.
Developed and delivered training programme across 240 dealers representing 16 manufacturers in the region including: Audi; Lexus; Toyota; Volkswagen; and Chrysler Group.
Created and presented complex reports on behalf of manufacturers and Retail Services SMT providing essential, business critical data and analysis.
Liaised closely with manufacturer representatives in order to ensure development of clients in line with manufacturer corporate strategy.

Regional Digital Account Manager

Vines Group

Vines Group (BMW) is an independently owned motor group with 7 dealerships across Surrey and Sussex.  

Reporting to the General Sales Manager key deliverables of the role included: sales of new &amp; used vehicles; driving profit through sales of accessories, add-ons and F&amp;I; and maintaining an exceptional level of CSI in line with manufacturers brand standards.
Maintained effective CRM and prospect management system.
Utilised existing customer database and manufacturer leads to generate appointments.
Engaged with other members of the Sales team and Business Manager to ensure all profit opportunities were exploited.
Progressed orders while maintaining regular contact with the customer in order to ensure vehicles were delivered on time.
Delivered on average 15 cars per month with a retail PPU of £1250 plus F&amp;I.

Senior Sales Executive

Sidlow Group

Sales Executive / Business Manager / Sales Manager / GSM

As a seasoned digital transformation and Salesforce expert in the luxury automotive sector, I have dedicated my career to driving innovation, streamlining processes, and elevating the customer experience. With over 25 years of experience in the industry, I have honed my skills in leading complex projects, managing cross-functional teams, and delivering measurable results.

At H.R. Owen, I serve as the Chief Technical Officer, where I oversee the development and implementation of cutting-edge technology solutions that enhance our operations and enable us to exceed customer expectations. My team and I are responsible for driving the adoption of Salesforce across the organisation, from sales to service, to marketing, to back-office operations.

In my previous roles, I led the digital transformation efforts for several luxury automotive brands, where I successfully integrated Business Intelligence reliance and unified their existing systems and processes, resulting in streamlined operations and improved customer engagement. I am highly experienced in CRM strategy, data management, finance & insurance, process optimisation, Sales & Marketing and change management.

As a thought leader in the luxury automotive sector, I have been invited to speak at industry conferences and events, where I share insights on digital transformation, customer engagement, and the role of technology in driving growth in the industry.

Skills:

Digital transformation
Salesforce CRM
Project management
Cross-functional team leadership
Change management
Data analysis
Customer experience optimisation
Sales and marketing automation

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