Behind the business with lead generators MVF Global

Lead generation and digital marketing specialists specialists MVF Global have grown from a team of five to over 130 employees. They use SEO, PPC, and CRO to generate leads for customers such as Nestle and Mars. CEO and co-founder Titus Sharpe takes Bdaily behind the business.

What key challenges has your company recently faced?

MVF is the fastest growing technology company in the UK so we need a lot of technicians. However there is a shortage of them in the UK, so hiring has been a problem. We have had to look at hiring from outside the UK. Those who already employed here tend to be quite loyal to the company they are working for and so reluctant to leave.

The great firewall of China has also been a problem.

What is your biggest achievement over the past 12 months?

Being recognised as the fastest growing technology company by the Sunday Times was huge for us. Not only was it fantastic for all our staff’s hard work to be recognised, it also got us lots of press recognition and interest.

I also bought back one of the first companies I set up which was an amazing feeling. I set up Approved Index in 2004 and built it up to be the UK’s largest B2B lead generation firm. However, I sold it to Reed Elsevier in 2008 so buying it back earlier on this year was great.

What is your most important focus for the coming year, and what do you hope to achieve?

We have just launched a brand new international travel platform called MoveHub, so the growth of this will be a big focus. The site has lots of information for expats and will help people move all over the world. We want it to become as big and reputable as TripAdvisor for people moving abroad.

What excites you most about your industry and business?

Watching MoveHub grow is incredibly exciting. The international moves market looks set to grow three per cent per annum over the next 30 years so it is a very exciting sector to be entering.

What do you wish you’d known when starting out?

I wish I had known to have more faith in my ideas. I sold Approved Index in 2008 and let someone else grow it, which I could have done myself. It all worked out fine because I have now bought it back, but looking back I wish I had had more confidence in my ideas and not necessarily sold out to the first paycheque.

What other business ideas are you most envious of?

I think what Moshi Monsters has achieved is amazing. However, it isn’t my skill set so I would like to achieve as much in our industry as Zoopla has achieved with the real estate world.

What will be the next big thing in your industry and how do you plan to handle it?

In our industry I think an increase in demographic targeting from Google will be the next big thing. We will see search being even more targeted than it is now.

I also think more effective propensity modelling to predict what our customer bases want will change things.