Aston Barclay invests in buyer engagement team expansion

Aston Barclay is expanding its buyer services team to build its buyer base as used car and LCV volumes going under the hammer continue to rise.

Five colleagues have been appointed as buyer service executives across the group’s six auction sites.

Charlotte Knowles will oversee both the Wakefield and Leeds LCV sites and has over 12 years of experience in the vehicle remarketing sector, joining Aston Barclay two years ago from Manheim, where she worked for over 10 years as vendor account manager.

Elsewhere, Naomi Newman has joined the Prees Heath team to support the Shropshire-based site. Laura Daws, Jo Normoyle and Leanne Lewis have also joined the respective auction teams at Donington, Chelmsford and Westbury in their newly created roles.

As well as building and retaining strong relationships with its current dealer and fleet buyer community, the new team will be charged with forging new relationships with EV buyers as part of Aston Barclay’s goal of becoming a trusted EV remarketing partner.

The expansion of the buyer services team comes with the appointment of Gordon Cockle to director of remarketing. Cockle, who joined the business in 2017, will oversee buyer engagement and remarketing across Aston Barclay, driving conversions through the use of data segmentation and industry relationships to match the right type of vehicle to the right type of buyer, at the right price.

Following his promotion, Aston Barclay is recruiting for a head of remarketing and head of buyer experience, to further boost the sales and customer service offering provided by the business.

“Relationships are at the core of our business, so we are thrilled to announce the appointment of our new buyer services team, who, alongside my new role, will be integral in helping us create a smoother customer experience for our buyers,” said Cockle.

“We are investing in growing our buyer base at a time when used vehicle volumes are rising on the back of improved new vehicle production. We have already seen our buyer numbers grow.  Given recent market conditions, now is absolutely the right time to increase our investment in buyer engagement so that we can utilise our expertise to match the right vehicles to the right buyers.” said Gordon Cockle, Aston Barclay’s director of remarketing.”