Serve First expands into US with new Managing Director

Serve First has expanded into the US and appointed Brad Christian as US Managing Director. The move comes as the company builds its senior leadership team after securing £9.5 million in investment.

The UK-headquartered customer experience technology company has opened an office in Alpharetta, Georgia, to support existing clients rolling out its programmes internationally. It also wants to win more multi-site operators in the US.

The expansion follows a period of growth in which Serve First nearly doubled annual recurring revenue to more than £3 million over 13 months. Its customer base includes EG On The Move, The Sushi Co, Topps Tiles and Spud Bros.

Christian's appointment is the latest change to the leadership team. Earlier this year, Serve First appointed Jeremy Michael as Chief Revenue Officer to lead its global commercial strategy and international growth.

Christian and Michael bring more than 45 years of combined industry experience. Michael has spent more than 25 years in customer insight and experience roles, including 16 years at a global customer experience management firm, where he served for 12 years as UK Managing Director and most recently as Senior Vice President, Global Accounts.

Christian has more than 20 years of experience in the customer experience sector. He previously held roles as Chief Customer Officer at a customer experience consultancy and Chief Commercial Officer for the experience practice of a global market research firm.

US push

The new US operation will include customer success and marketing teams, initially focused on hospitality, convenience retail, fuel forecourts and facilities management. Serve First says its platform combines customer feedback, audits and mystery shopping data to help businesses identify issues at individual sites and direct action to frontline teams.

Chief Executive Officer Erol Ayvaz said the expansion reflects the company's plans to grow beyond the UK.

"Our growth reflects increasing demand from businesses looking to move beyond measuring customer experience and start making meaningful operational improvements," said Ayvaz.

"Having a dedicated team on the ground in the US will allow us to better support our international clients and bring our technology to more businesses across the region."

He also said the leadership changes support the company's wider commercial plans.

"Jeremy and Brad bring a wealth of industry experience to Serve First. With Jeremy driving our global commercial strategy and Brad overseeing our US operations, we have the leadership in place to support our next phase of international expansion."

Leadership roles

For Serve First, the US launch marks a step towards building a larger international business around customer experience and operational data for multi-site companies. The Georgia office will serve both current international customers and prospective clients in the region.

Christian said the role is about helping businesses act on customer information rather than simply gather it.

"Traditional CX programmes have too often focused on collecting data rather than driving meaningful change on the front line," said Christian.

"Metrics matter but meaning matters more. When teams have the right insights, tasks and support to change how they work, brands can deliver better customer experiences."