Two directors of Glasgow-based fleet management and leasing specialist, Fleet Alliance, CEO Andy Bruce and COO Nigel McMinn, have invested in the customer handover communications platform, AutoBuzz.
Bruce and McMinn have taken a minority stake and non-executive advisory roles in AutoComms Solutions which owns the AutoBuzz platform.
The two directors plan to support AutoComms’ already rapid growth in retail automotive as well as help develop the offering for the fleet and leasing space.
The tech platform AutoBuzz operates in an often over-looked part of the car-buying journey, the order to handover period. The platform helps to keep customers excited about the arrival of their new vehicle with personalised and localised content throughout the post-order, pre-handover gap.
“The founders of AutoComms have identified a huge opportunity within the retail automotive industry around the car buying process; and both Nigel and I are very excited about the journey that the business is on,” said Andy Bruce.
“The technology has proven to positively impact customer satisfaction levels as well as selling additional products and services. The ROI to retailers and OEMs is hugely compelling,” he added.
The intention is for the new investors to also support AutoComms Solutions in shaping an offering for the fleet world and Nigel McMinn said he believed this is a market where significant potential exists.
“We know the retail automotive space well, but we are now immersed in the fleet and leasing sector and AutoBuzz can easily support some key challenges in this world. Fleet managers and their drivers need a lot of information about their vehicle as well as its latest delivery updates,” he said.
Bruce added that, despite the investment, their core focus remained on developing and managing the Fleet Alliance business. “We are non-exec advisers to AutoComms. That does not detract from our central business which is successfully managing the development of Fleet Alliance,” he said.
CEO and co-founder of AutoComms Solutions, Ingram Sanders, said the business had already benefited hugely from their input. “Myself and Nick Golding have been involved in retail automotive for ten years but the level of experience and insight that Andy Bruce and Nigel McMinn have is unbelievable and a massive coup for our business.
“Since we started talking with them at the end of last year it was clear that they believed in our vision and feel compelled to come on this journey with us and the other shareholders.
“We’re all very excited to see how we can develop the technology together at a time when maximising customer value and giving exceptional customer experience is a top priority being discussed at automotive board room level up and down the country.”
