1st April 2025
Since partnering with FPE, MaxContact - a UK-based contact centre as a service provider - has entered an exciting new phase of growth. Under CEO Ben Booth’s leadership, the business has doubled down on innovation, launched a new AI-driven analytics product, and significantly expanded its routes to market. In this Q&A, Ben shares how the team is building momentum, the thinking behind their latest product developments, and what’s next for the business.
Q: Can you tell us about MaxContact and what your business does?
Ben: MaxContact is a contact centre as a service provider. If you've ever picked up the phone, engaged in a webchat, or sent an email, there's a good chance we route that interaction through to the right person. Contact centres use a broad range of technologies beyond just routing calls - it includes workforce management, speech analytics, and AI, which have become increasingly prevalent in recent years.
Q: Who do you serve primarily?
Ben: We focus primarily on the UK market, specifically the SMB sector. In our industry, a contact centre with fewer than 500 agents is considered SMB, and that represents 86% of the UK market volume. This is where we excel. We operate predominantly in outbound sales and debt collection. However, over the last few years, we've been expanding more into customer service as well.
Q: What does MaxContact need to do well to be successful?
Ben: We operate in a highly competitive market with some very large players who have marketing budgets bigger than our entire revenue. So, for us, success comes down to two key things: innovation and service. We have to stay at the forefront of technology, leveraging how it’s evolving, and we must provide a better service than our competitors.
Q: How have you been accelerating your development?
Ben: We’ve recruited internally and also partnered with a nearshore development team. We needed to scale quickly, and hiring 20-30 developers in the UK would have taken too long. By nearshoring, we were able to ramp up in just six weeks. This has allowed us to enhance key areas like speech analytics, which is part of our AI platform.
Q: Can you talk more about the role of AI and speech analytics in your platform?
Ben: Contact centres generate vast amounts of data. We record over 20 million call minutes every month. Historically, getting insights from that data meant manually listening to recordings. Now, we use AI to transcribe and analyse that data - identifying sentiment, detecting key topics, and summarising conversations. One of our key innovations is real-time agent assist. This feature transcribes conversations in real-time and provides agents with suggested next-best actions, improving efficiency and customer experience.
Q: Is this part of a new product you’ve launched?
Ben: Yes, it’s part of our new product, Spokn AI. It’s designed to unlock the value of spoken interactions, not just from call recordings but also from webchats and emails. Contact centres have evolved into engagement platforms, and businesses are recognising the importance of leveraging this data for insights and decision-making.
Q: How has Spokn AI been received?
Ben: Within the first week of launch we had three deals signed and 20 demos booked. Version two is now in the market, and we’re working on roadmap releases for versions three, four, and five.
It really shows the evolution of the business. A big part of it comes down to our investment not just in development, but also in sales and marketing. A couple of years ago, launching a product and having orders within two weeks would have been unthinkable. But by building a stronger team and aligning development with commercial efforts, we’re now seeing much faster returns on investment.
Q: How has your experience with FPE influenced this growth?
Ben: Being backed by FPE has been invaluable. I’ve learned more in the last four years than in the previous ten. Scaling a business requires different strategies at different stages, and having experienced investors who have guided multiple businesses through this process is incredibly helpful. They don’t dictate, but they provide the right guidance and insights to help us navigate growth.
Q: How confident are you about MaxContact’s future?
Ben: More confident than ever. We’ve built a strong team that can adapt and respond to whatever challenges come our way. It’s not just about the products we’re developing - it’s about the people behind them and the momentum we’re building.
Q: What’s next for MaxContact?
Ben: The next phase is about refining our strategy. We’ve tested multiple routes to market, and now we’re doubling down on what’s working. At the same time, we’re looking at productising our AI solutions to sell them independently, beyond just contact centres. This evolution positions us for significant long-term growth.
MaxContact is leading the way in helping contact centres unlock the value of every customer interaction.
The team was recently recognised as the Best-Performing Company for 'Customer Relationship Management' at the Megabuyte 50 Awards - a well-earned recognition of their progress on product development, customer delivery, and commercial momentum.