Monthly Archives: April 2017

Tom White joins TLA as automotive MD

With an exceptional pedigree for product innovation and commercial success, we are delighted to welcome Tom White to the business as managing director of automotive.

Tom is the former head of product development for Auto Trader and, more recently, product director for Time Out Group.

During his six-plus years with Auto Trader, Tom was responsible for setting a strategic consumer product roadmap that delivered genuine innovation, leading to increases in revenue and profitability.

It was also during this time that Tom first worked with TLA. Our landmark collaboration spearheaded Auto Trader’s successful expansion into the lucrative new vehicle market.

In 2013, Tom left Auto Trader for Time Out. In his three years with the group, he brought the global product to vision to life across various digital platforms. His processes helped the business adopt a digital- and mobile-first mind-set, which led to a significant upturn in revenues.

In reuniting with TLA, Tom will set the strategic direction for our automotive service; developing core products, building relationships with advertisers and driving growth across new markets and territories.

Commenting on his arrival, Tom said: “The company’s commitment to fairness and quality coupled with its ability to innovate and drive change has established TLA as the UK’s leading supplier of customer acquisition opportunities within automotive. I’m excited by the prospect of building on that success in the same tradition.”

‘Genuine innovation’

Anton Hanley, managing director of TLA, added: “Tom has a phenomenal record for creating business and product strategies that lead to lasting change and considerable commercial success. His ability to lead teams towards genuine innovation will be instrumental in how we develop and grow our automotive service.”

We create quality-driven customer acquisition strategies for some of the world’s biggest automotive brands, including BMW, Audi, Mini, Volvo and Jaguar.

PT, press-ups and progress

We believe in helping each other make progress. Not only in a professional capacity but in other aspects of life – including health and fitness.

TLA personal trainingThat’s why last year we teamed up with LIVFIT to offer free personal training sessions for the TLA team. Several months on and we’re pleased with the progress. The hour-long session provides a fun and encouraging environment for us to work on our fitness.

Every Tuesday, we venture down to Liverpool’s waterfront to perform a combination of squats, lunges, press-ups, burpees and other exercises we’re reliably informed are good for us!

We won’t lie, it’s not easy. And we’ve been known to complain once we’ve got our breath back. But we always leave with an I’m-glad-I-did-that sort of feeling*.

Life at TLA

PT is just one of a number of health benefits we offer, along with free games of squash and subsidised gym membership. We’re also plotting a running club and weekly game of five-a-side football.

There’s no obligation to take part, of course, but they’re a great option for anyone wanting to improve their fitness and have fun.

If you’d like to know more about our culture or check out our latest vacancies, visit our Careers page.

*This feeling temporarily disappears when we wake-up sore the following day, but thankfully returns later in the week.

TLA to build on Haymarket Automotive partnership

Earlier this month Haymarket announced plans for a three-year £50m investment that will create a new standalone division for its flagship automotive publishing brands, WhatCar?, Autocar and Pistonheads.

Following its landmark announcement, the publishing group has confirmed that TLA will remain a key part of the partnership and continue to deliver automotive clients with high-quality prospects via the WhatCar? valuation tool.

‘Strong and successful partnership’

Rachael Prasher, managing director of Haymarket Automotive, said: “We have a strong and successful partnership with The Lead Agency, and will be looking to build on this over the coming months and years. Connecting What Car?’s data with customers is central to our strategy.”

Since our partnership with the WhatCar? team began in May 2016, we have connected thousands of in-market car buyers with its manufacturing partners. The new investment will provide an opportunity for us to build on this success, delivering a greater volume of data and opportunities to convert.

We’re excited by the impact of Haymarket Automotive on the UK automotive industry as a whole and look forward to building on our successful partnership.

Design It; Build It Conference – Edinburgh

We’re feeling energised and inspired after two days at the international web design and development conference, Design It; Build It.

The event, held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, featured fantastic talks by experts from innovative brands and organisations including Minecraft, Uber, IBM, AirBnB, RBS, MacMillan Cancer Support and the BBC.

The conference focused on the importance of taking creative risks to produce the best work. Among our highlights were designer and technologist Joshua Davis discussing the role that risk can play in bringing code together with creativity to create art and The Secret Life of Comedy speaking about the need to take risks when creating for the web to make sure things look different.

Other stand outs were designer and photographer Mike Kus discussing what it’s like to be the black sheep and standing out from the crowd; Chris Hammond from IBM sharing how they used human centred design to build something that bettered the world; and the BBC’s David Bailey explaining how their GEL (global experience language) is changing the way they innovate and design.

“Innovation of any kind requires risk, experimentation and occasionally failure.”

The key takeaway from the event was that innovation of any kind requires risk, experimentation and occasionally failure. It revealed that organisations that encourage risk – not just from designers but from all areas of the business – are those able to lead, innovate and succeed.