11:38 am, June 9, 2021
Drive Motor Retail has appointed a new group project manager as it aims to switch all its dealerships to paperless administration by July.
Adam Swift, 33, joins the firm from Pendragon and has over ten years’ experience within the automotive industry.
The appointment is something of a coup for the company, which came 42nd in the Car Dealer Top 100.
Pendragon, which sits third, had an EBITA of £78.9m in 2019 – more than 13 times Drive’s £5.74m.
Swift will now oversee the dealer-wide rollout of iDealFile – a new paperless administration system.
The electronic platform, designed specifically for the automotive industry, turns paper documents into secure electronic digitally signed records.
Swift said: ‘I have been brought in to oversee or assist new projects or programmes which are implemented across the dealer group, whether it be in training, aftersales, marketing or new and used car sales.
‘Everything we do has got to be beneficial for our people, but most importantly our customers.
‘I think the group is already doing great things and I’m looking forward to sharing ideas and learning from my colleagues.’
He added: ‘The feedback from the dealerships which are already using iDealFile has been phenomenal.
‘For example, tasks like asking customers to sign forms can now be completed remotely so it makes the customer and the sales executives’ lives so much easier.
‘I expect systems like this to become commonplace across the industry in the coming years.’
The iDealFile system has already been rolled out across 35 per cent of Drive’s dealerships, with the remaining sites set to complete the transition by the end of July.
Tanita Walker, Drive Motor Retail’s group financial controller was responsible for setting up and completing the deal.
She said: ‘Having paperless systems in place improves efficiency and productivity and will free up our administration team to complete value adding tasks they would not otherwise have the capacity for.
‘Time-consuming jobs like filing will now all be automated so iDealFile is definitely going to streamline our processes and improve the service we can provide to the customer.
‘There is also the added benefit of lowering the company’s carbon footprint.’
