SmartFreight appoints National Business Development Manager to lead UK expansion
Jeff Francis.
SmartFreight has appointed Jeff Francis to the newly created role of National Business Development Manager.
He will play a key part in building the presence of the brand across the UK and introducing companies to the huge benefits of multi-carrier shipping software.
Recently Commercial & Sales Manager for United Global Logistics and before that Logistics Consultant for XPO Logistics Europe, Jeff brings with him a wealth of experience including a critical understanding of the day-to-day challenges faced by transport and warehouse managers.
Sydney-based SmartFreight is an award-winning freight software platform that works with around 3,000 companies around the world. In Ireland, it has already helped around 500 customers save money on their transport costs and is now setting its sights on small and medium-sized businesses across the UK.
Kerry Holmes, Managing Director of SmartFreight, said: “We are delighted to welcome Jeff to the SmartFreight team and look forward to his help in building our customer base across the UK. His primary responsibility as National Business Development Manager, IFS Europe, will be to drive forward our ambitious growth strategy. This will include managing and enhancing a large commercial team; the fostering of relationships with both existing and new customers; and the development of Alliance Partnerships – whether they be technical or commercial.”
Jeff Francis said: “This is a really exciting opportunity and I can’t wait to get started reaching out to the growing SmartFreight customer base and creating new links across different business sectors. I’ve worked in logistics for most of my career, starting at the very bottom and working my way up the old-fashioned way. I started as a driver, progressed my way up to managing a depot and then to running a sales division. Since then I have built my career in business development and never looked back. I’m a traditional man with a modern approach and I strongly believe in the benefits of modern technology. I understand the challenges of our customers because I’ve been there myself, doing the job they do and I know we can add real benefit to their bottom lines through cutting transport costs.”
Ben Woodward, Channel Manager at SmartFreight, added: “This is an exciting time for us as we look to rapidly grow our team to meet customer demand. Multi-carrier software platforms such as SmartFreight are game changers for small and medium-sized businesses and over the coming months, we will be working hard to make sure the SmartFreight message gets out to everyone that wants to save money on their transport costs.
“The UK represents a fantastic opportunity to build on our great success in Ireland with around 500 sites using SmartFreight today. Many of the Integrated SmartFreight Transport Providers have services in both Ireland and the UK so our carrier partnerships are ready to help customers save money shipping and gain visibility of their supply chains. We know there is some well-established shipping software players in the market but we have a solid, reliable solution and extremely competitive pricing.
“We are active with UK supply chain events and media and are consistently developing key partnerships with carriers and systems specialists in warehouse management and control,” he added.
