We’re Building On Our Market-Leading Position By Getting Ahead Of The Game Where It Matters

The Right People, with the Right Approach

The Direct Affinity Approach

Systems and service must go hand in hand for a truly effective solution and that’s why we pride ourselves on the team we’ve assembled.

Sitting front and centre in our team are the 62 individuals working in Tenerife and Runcorn who represent our clients, when speaking to their clients. They’re a remarkable bunch and we really couldn’t do it without them.

Behind our frontline team, the DIRECT AFFINITY EUROPE LINE-UP is made up of individuals with a diverse but complimentary array of skills and attributes, all united by a passion for the customer journey and “doing the right thing for the consumer”.

“The Direct Affinity Agents all share something in the common – they’re all just lovely to speak to on the phone – you say you can’t train for attitude but you can recruit for it!”

 Marketing Manager PLC

We think our people are uniquely curious and that comes from years of industry and commercial experience and it’s this desire to question and the need to understand all the moving parts of our clients’ businesses, that is the hallmark of our approach to successful client relationships.

Direct Affinity Europe Line-Up

Out of school, apart from the family, it’s all about Everton FC. The high point? Seeing this Holy Trinity win the championship over 50 years ago!

Phil Williams

Chief Executive Officer

Phil is driven by a desire to add value and exceed customer expectations. He has been providing consumer focussed services since he cut his teeth with a North American Finance House way back in the mid 1980’s.

He blends both sales and operational expertise to provide objective analysis for clients, to help them maximise their business opportunities. He asks questions, listens with an intent to understand, and builds teams that provide best in class solutions.

Phil is also not afraid to pioneer new ideas. The hugely successful partial relocation of our Outsourced BDC services from the UK to Tenerife is testament to that. He saw the customer service opportunities that could be derived from the fantastic employee pool of skilled and mature, ex-pat professionals residing on the island.

Away from work, Sam’s happiest trampling over the moorland of East Lancashire.

Sam Gildert

Director

20 years of automotive experience has given Sam a unique insight into most aspects of the industry and he’s able to use that experience to support and advise our clients.

Having started as a sales executive, he moved through retail management positions before taking central roles on the executive board of UK Car Group.

Sam has worked with Direct Affinity for over 9 years in a client facing capacity, planning and managing the delivery of our full range of services. He’s harnessed his passion for the sector to deliver a best-in-class experience for our clients and their customers.

During Steve’s international rugby career – he did his bit to help cement Anglo-Scottish relations.

Steve Bainbridge

Performance Director

Steve has combined the personal discipline needed to be an international rugby player, (representing both England and the British and Irish Lions), with the business focus to carve out a highly successful career in the automotive sector, spanning some 35 years.

He started his career in retail sales, then spent 10 years in international automotive consultancy in the US and Europe and most recently 18 years in sales development at board level with Lookers Motor Group. Each role has required adaptability and has allowed Steve to develop a comprehensive but differing skill set and an impressive range of problem-solving capabilities.

His move to Direct Affinity Europe allows him to build on this and to focus on his particular passion; opportunity recognition and how to help retailers and brands capitalise on it, through a process of detection, diagnosis and solution deployment.

Masochism comes in many forms – for Dan, it’s in the shape of his 33 year-old Jag!

Dan Pitt

Marketing Director

Dan has a wealth of advertising experience in the automotive and financial services sectors, having worked with leading London agencies for 15 years, before joining his last agency and heading up their automotive division for over a decade.

There aren’t many sectors Dan hasn’t worked in or on but he’s always prided himself on the need for better Business to Business (B2B) marketing communication.

“B2B should never be boring!”

His move to Direct Affinity Europe allows him to focus on his particular passion; the omni-channel customer journey and how to improve it.

In his spare time, Paul is an enthusiastic apiarist (bee-keeper) – we had to look it up too!

Paul Flood

Chief Technology Officer

Paul has over 35 years of experience in technology. Designing and developing secure high availability technology solutions in the telecoms, defence, finance and logistics sectors.

He started his career working in the defence sector in Manchester, programming computers the size of an average terraced house, and has worked through the technology revolution of the past 30 years.

Working with the Direct Affinity Europe team, Paul looks to drive technology and innovation within the business leveraging the vast knowledge and experience of the group.

In his spare time Paul is an enthusiastic apiarist (Bee-keeper – we had to look it up too!)

Tenerife Management Team

Apparently, it’s okay to look but Fiona can get prickly if you touch it – let alone drink it!

Fiona Westwood

Manager

Fiona learnt all about customer service the hard way, working her way up in the hospitality sector from receptionist to hotelier and restaurateur, running her thriving business for 26 years jointly with her husband. On moving to Tenerife full time, Fiona joined us in 2017 knowing very little about contact centres or cars but soon found herself enjoying the whole process and being part of a great team. Fiona moved up through the ranks before becoming manager in 2020.

Whoever said that diamonds are a girl’s best friend never owned a dog (let alone two…)

Steph O’Hanlon

Management Assistant

After a holiday to Tenerife Steph loved the weather so much, she decided to leave the UK and her work in supermarket management to live the ex-pat life here instead.

Joining Direct Affinity Europe in 2017 a number of promotions followed, leading to Steph’s current role covering everything from IT issues, to maintenance, to floor and team training support. I’m not sure where we’d be without Steph!

All the gear and no idea!

Trevor Johnston

Training Manager

Trevor has worked for several large organizations including Standard Life, Europcar and the Sixt Rental Motor Group. He has a real passion for better customer service, active listening and problem solving, all skills that stand him in good stead at Direct Affinity Europe. Trevor has been with us for 3 years moving up quickly through the ranks to take on the critical role of training co-ordinator, delivering the high-quality instruction, mentoring and coaching we require, to ensure we can maintain the appropriate standards for our clients, delivered by the most motivated and engaged team possible!

This is the mighty Portsmouth FC back in 2008 when we actually used to win games

Alex Docherty

Training Supervisor

Alex has worked in customer-facing roles for a number of years, starting his career in the casino industry with the Rank Group, where he took on the responsibility for the training of staff. He utilises the skills he learnt there to great effect in his current role of Training Supervisor with Direct Affinity, bringing an enthusiasm for getting the best out of the team, thus helping everyone to deliver on behalf of our clients.

UK Management Hub

Dan Derbyshire

Yearly trips to Wembley with City and Wolves!

Tom Dutton

Tom reckons he doesn’t get up to much out of the office, apart from the Bungee jumping…

Lottie Roberts

The kit doesn’t quite fit anymore, but nothing else has changed.

Emma Pickering

Out of school Emma can usually be found donning the hiking boots and exploring somewhere new. The more water and the more trees the better, although the beach in Tenerife wouldn’t go amiss.

Liam Carney

Liam is our resident clubber / festival-going and youngest member of the UK co-ordination team. When he’s not learning the ropes on all things digital and technical, he’ll be going large at Creamfields.

Mike Buckley

Mike’s a keen (bordering on fanatical) lycra-ist.

Amy

 

Craig

 

Business Development Centre

Gill Clarke

Louise Armstrong

Julie Humphreys

Emma Barker

Emma Abbott

Sharon Edens

Simon Phillips

David Crosbie

Gemma Miller

Judith Beney

Paul Rowley

Tracy Hanlan

Bill Taylor

Chris Steward

Sarah Clifton

Trisha Valentine

Jane Neal

Melanie Barry

“Go See, Ask Why, Show Respect”

Detect
We detect the issues using a variety of tools and processes including our Digital Audit Programme that uniquely maps the digital path to purchase by looking at what happens through the eyes of the consumer.
Diagnose
We diagnose the problem by analysing the data available to use from all sources (quantitative and qualitative). Because of our unrivaled sector experience, we’re able to interpret what the data tells us, quickly and concisely.
Deploy
Then and only then do we deploy a solution, using our best-in-class Tech, Team and Tools.

A Strategic Partners To Your Business

It’s easy to make a claim but to ensure you can deliver on it each and every time takes real precision and requires different solutions. For example, we saw that there was an opportunity to tap into a high quality and skilled pool of talent in enclaves popular with ex-pats. So, in 2016, after a huge amount of research we successfully migrated our entire outsourced Business Development Centre (BDC) to Tenerife. And we haven’t looked back!

The move has helped further enhance the company’s reputation as not only a trusted service provider but also as a key strategic business partner for many automotive clients.

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