Alphabet has made two new appointments to increase its focus on the SME market in 2016.

Gavin Davies, who joined Alphabet in 2013 to create and establish the company’s broker sales channel, Alphabet Partner, takes up the reins of a newly created position as General Manager for SME sales and distribution.

Davies’ new role brings together and co-ordinates all of Alphabet’s SME commercial operations in order to provide consistency in sales and service delivery across all of the channels in which the company interacts with SME customers.

He said: “Alphabet is an active player in the UK SME market through retailers, brokers and directly – whichever channel the customer wants to engage with us. A key ingredient of our success so far has been that we understand that a ‘one size fits all’ approach simply doesn’t work for a market as diverse and dynamic as SMEs.

We’ve adopted a multi-channel commercial approach to SMEs, but our activities haven’t always been as co-ordinated and consistent as we would like them to be across the board. Similarly, we have a fantastic offering in terms of an unparalleled range of products and services so we need to shout about them more in order that SME customers can reap the benefits.

SMEs need more dynamic, fast-paced and less hierarchical solutions than the corporate market. Decision making needs to be quicker and solutions more agile as competition – in terms of price, added value and customer service – is fierce. Alphabet for Business, our direct SME channel will bring the focus and dynamism we experienced with the success of Alphabet Partner as an engine for change within the business.”

Graham Conway, who joined Alphabet in 2013 to set up the broker channel in tandem with Davies, now takes up the position of head of Alphabet Partner.

Conway was a key part of the Alphabet Partner launch in late 2014 and was instrumental in the development of the bespoke and market-leading online platform, icon. His previous role as head of tactical business at Alphabet, as well as strong broker and manufacturer relationships, ensures continuity in the leadership of Alphabet Partner, which has already delivered a vehicle portfolio of over 7,500 in little over a year’s trading.

Conway added: “To be successful with the SME market with Alphabet Partner we had to examine every aspect of our service from the perspective of the SME. We launched Alphabet Partner with selected, long standing broker businesses with a proven track record with SMEs and an established customer base.

As a result of this relentless focus on our customers – the SMEs and the brokers themselves – we’ve seen tremendous success with Alphabet Partner already responsible for 10% of Alphabet’s total vehicle deliveries to customers in 2015. I’m really excited to take the helm of a team and family of Partners who I have worked closely with over the past 2.5 years and help lead Alphabet Partner to the next level of its development.”

Alphabet’s chief commercial officer, Martin Quail added: “Over the past few years Alphabet has seen significant shift in our business towards better meeting the specific needs of the SME market which has helped us deliver significant year on year growth. Nearly 30% of our business is now with SME customers and this proportion is growing every year.

The dynamism of the SME sector has been the real engine of the UK economy since 2008 and the significant levels of growth in the UK leasing market are being driven by SME customers switching on to the benefits of leasing, fleet management and advanced mobility solutions. In the past SMEs didn’t have access to the full suite of products and expertise which larger corporates benefitted from, but this has changed and now SME customers can work with Alphabet through whichever channel works best for their business needs.

"Gavin and Graham have done an incredible job for Alphabet over the last couple of years and are experts in their field. With their appointments to these key senior leadership positions within the business we are well equipped to build on our successes in the sector and propel all of our SME channels forward to even greater heights.”

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