Fleet management software firm focusing on long-term future

Jaama says customer focus will be key to securing the fleet management software firm’s long-term future following its sale last year.

New chief executive officer, Andrew Holgate (pictured), has spent the past 18 months further developing his understanding of the business and the differing requirements of its customer base.

There has also has been investment in people and product, with the promise of “more exciting features” being released for its Key 2 software platform soon.

“We have a ‘My Technician’ app that will be released in the New Year, which is going to be very exciting,” Holgate told Fleet News. 

“We've also been improving our maintenance exchange product, which is a transaction-based product for workshops.”

However, he said: “The real focus is on doubling down on our existing customers and making their experiences as good as they can possibly be.” 

Holgate says that, since the takeover, his priorities have been working on the company’s product offering and its internal processes as well as understanding the needs of its fleet customers.

“I’m looking at building the best possible business for the medium to long term,” Andrew Holgate, Jaama.

He explained: “What we’ve been able to do, and what we will continue to do, is take a step back and look at what’s best for our business and what’s best for our customers, rather than worrying about what our growth looks like next year.” 

Jaama was acquired by a group of investors led by Holgate for an undisclosed sum in July 2023. 

The company’s founder and CEO, Jason Francis, retained a stake in the company, while Holgate, who is MD of Lexana Capital, became the company’s new chief executive.

After the deal had been completed, Holgate said that it was the “unusually strong team spirit that permeated throughout the company”, which had helped convince him to buy the business.

Speaking to Fleet News 18 months later, he explained: “Often in these types of situations, when there's an injection of investment, the focus is getting in there immediately... and growing at all costs. 

“This is a very different type of scenario where it's very much a long-term investment, a long-term plan.”

He added: “I’ve been trying to meet as many customers as possible… physically going in to see how they use our products and just talking to people, where do you think we can improve, what’s missing, what’s going really well and how can we make sure that in 10 years’ time, we are still an essential part of their operation.”

Starting from humble beginnings with a team of six people in Tamworth in 2004, Jaama’s Key 2 software now manages more than 1.5 million vehicles across a multitude of industries including leasing, rental, corporate and public sector fleets.

The business has grown consistently over the past 20 years to become the dominant player in the fleet management software market.

Among its fleet customers are Scottish Water, Seven Asset Management, Cygnet Healthcare, Marstons, Speedy Hire and Skanska.

Its leasing and rental customer base, meanwhile, includes Novuna, ProHire, Agility Fleet, JCT600, TCH, Herd Group, Octopus and Total Motion.

Holgate told Fleet News: “We have an enormous amount of wiggle room to invest back into the product, invest back into the people, to grow the team. 

“We’ve gone from 100 people to 130 people over the last 18 months.”

He added: “I’m looking at building the best possible business for the medium to long term.”

Senior management changes 

Jaama announced in February, MD Martin Evans and IT director James Thresher would be standing down from their posts.

Both worked alongside Holgate helping transition the business following its acquisition. 

At the time, Jaama also announced the promotion of Richard Evans to sales director from his previous role as head of business development.

Further changes were announced in October, with a series of senior appointments to focus on supporting customer service.  

Rhianna Greaves was appointed as Jaama’s customer success director, responsible for implementing the company’s customer success strategy.

Michelle Batty also joined as head of marketing to lead Jaama’s multi-channel marketing strategy and continue to build its thought leader communication and Karen Shaw was appointed as head of customer support having spent over a decade in customer centric roles, both in the commercial vehicle and insurance industries.

Holgate says: “We have invested in a lot of senior people to make our company and our product more robust.”

Working with customers for the best solution

A growing trend in software, according to Holgate, is a desire to have less software. “One of the reasons people move to Jaama is that they start with 10 or 12 different software providers, and they want to narrow that down to one or two,” he explained. 

He believes that, with Jaama becoming the software hub for many organisations, the demand and opportunity is to produce more vertical solutions.  

“I went to go see one of our more high-profile customers, with 600 users of our product, and I walked into this enormous room and it’s just a vast sea of Key 2,” he said. “It’s genuinely awe inspiring to see our product be the hub of what they were doing.”

Meanwhile, its Key 2 Quick Start product, which is targeted at smaller operators and was launched last year, has been gaining traction in the market. 

Targeting sub-100 vehicle fleets, the system is modular but with reconfigured features designed through the experience of handling the complexities of multi-asset fleets.

Holgate said: “It's probably the area that's growing fastest for us in terms of absolute numbers.”

However, he added: “It’s still work in progress… We are still finding a sweet spot in giving the smaller fleets something that is ideally suited to their needs, but it’s doing very well.”

The vast majority of Jaama’s business is generated through working with larger fleets through the Key 2 platform, which helps operators optimise fleet performance, maximise efficiencies, control costs and reduce risk. 

“We are not afraid to tackle really difficult business problems, and we are willing to listen to every customer scenario,” said Holgate. 

“We’ve been around for 20 years. We have an unbelievable amount of domain knowledge in the business.”

Labelling it as a “crucial differentiator” in the sector, Holgate explained: “We are willing to work with customers to come up with their best solution, because our software has been around so long, because we’ve so many different types of customers all with their own nuances, their own different workflows, different things they care about, things that differentiate them. 

“We’re not afraid to go ‘this is probably best practice, but if you are doing it that way, then with a little bit of time, we can make that work for you’,” he added.

“When we’re talking about businesses that are at real scale, they don’t just want to do exactly the same thing as everyone else and we’re willing to have that conversation - most software companies aren’t.”