New FD joins from a major contact centre software rival, bringing a wide experience of high growth businesses and a history of SaaS success
Contact centre software specialist MaxContact has appointed Alec Kemp as Finance Director to steer the business through a period of rapid private-equity backed growth.
Alec was previously FD of the UK wing of a large multinational Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) brand, and brings with him wide experience of guiding businesses during the transition from owner-manager to equity-backed investment models.
After years of steady growth, including a 30% sales boost in 2020, Manchester-based MaxContact is now working with specialist Software as a Service (SaaS) growth partner FPE Capital to accelerate its product development roadmap and grow its support and service teams.
Alec said: “When I started in my previous job, the business was in a very similar position to the one MaxContact is in now. That business went through a period of very rapid growth and is now a market leader, and there’s no reason MaxContact can’t do the same. It already has excellent technology and a very passionate, energetic management team. Now it has the investment to back its ambition.”
Alec believes the business can treble in size over the next few years, thanks to the strength of its contact centre solution and trends in the wider market. He said the cloud software sector had taken huge strides forward in recent years.
“When I started in SaaS, businesses were asking if they should move to the cloud,” Alec added. “Now they’re asking what and when they should move to the cloud. In this regard, the pandemic has accelerated the case for agile cloud-based contact centre software, which has been proven by lockdown and the need to quickly transition to remote working.”
Alec joins the board and will lead a finance department focused on driving growth by identifying the most potent revenue streams and helping to devise strategies to take advantage of them. His current priority is setting the business up for future growth and building out essential departments like marketing, HR and procurement.
“At this stage, it’s about putting in place the systems and processes that will allow the business to grow at the rate the management and investors want. The technology expertise is already here. What I’m focused on now is completing the jigsaw and preparing the business for the next phase of its development,” he said.
MaxContact is a feature-rich and cost-effective contact centre solution built by a team of contact centre experts. The company’s highly reliable and secure cloud-based software integrates with existing technology like CRMs and bespoke industry applications, and supports seamless omnichannel communication across voice, email, SMS and social. Agents can access the service from anywhere and on any device.
MaxContact CEO Ben Booth said: “We’re obviously delighted to have someone with Alec’s experience and expertise on board as we start the next stage of our journey. Not only has Alec helped businesses in our position before, but he’s also successfully steered businesses in this sector through phases of rapid growth. He knows exactly what we want to do and how to help us achieve it.”
Alec spent nine years with PricewaterhouseCoopers in London and Hong Kong, before a five year spell in Germany with a global manufacturing business in the automotive sector. His appointment by MaxContact coincides with the arrival of Lars Pedersen as chairman of the board.
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