Manchester hosting firm UKFast has sought to boost its analysis and strategic planning capabilities with the appointment of Stephanie Potts as commercial manager.
Potts, a CIMA qualified management accountant, was previously 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”.
Stephanie Potts joins UKFast as commercial manager
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.”
