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Name: Donna Kelly
Role: Digital Marketing Manager
How long in role? 15 years
Current drive: VW Tiguan PHEV
DONNA Kelly’s background is in television and radio. In fact she graduated from the University of Salford with a first class degree in broadcast media and held roles with the BBC and ITV, producing shows that included Coronation Street. Quite the switch from the bright lights of the cobbles to broking, so what drove her career change?
Donna had been doing some freelance writing for Car Press – Nationwide Vehicle Contract’s sister site, alongside her work at ITV. When the broadcaster started to make redundancies back in 2009, Nationwide asked her to join Car Press full time as website editor and she accepted. Donna explains:
‘I was already a motorsports fan so that definitely helped with the move into automotive, it felt like a natural fit. I have to say that it wasn’t planned and I hadn’t intended to leave television but it felt like the right thing to do. I’m so happy with my career path – I love my job and I love marketing.’
As Nationwide decided to focus more on its core business, Donna moved over to its broking side in 2009, becoming a manager after two years. Fifteen years later she is still there and now in a senior management role. Donna credits her long tenure to the fact that she is still learning and developing – she was supported to take her Masters in Digital Marketing Communications alongside her role and has recently added AI certifications to her impressive list of qualifications.
And Donna’s role is super varied. She says that ‘anything marketing’ is in her remit, that includes Nationwide’s social media, email, website and back-end customer management systems. She runs a team of five in-house marketers as well as managing developers, external agencies and business partnerships. As part of her senior management role, Donna also has responsibility for internal communications, some HR elements, plus legal and compliance. And she explains, Nationwide is a great place to work:
‘The people at Nationwide are lovely. What is key for me is that the directors and senior management team value my opinion, are supportive of marketing and thoroughly embrace innovation. I love the fact that we can get things over the line quickly and can test new ideas fast. That means we’re not restricted as a team, we have room to grow and are supported to learn which is so important.’
That drive for innovation has been key for Donna who has been critical to driving AI initiatives at Nationwide – including the introduction of its quick delivery, stock deals Fast Lease as well as Help to Lease for young drivers. The business has also successfully introduced AI for both staff development and the renewal process and Donna is clearly passionate about its potential:
‘AI will change our roles and it’s so important to keep our skills up to date, I’ve been embracing AI since 2020. Technology also falls under my remit and I relish driving new projects for different parts of the business.’
Nationwide - Best AI Innovators
Nationwide won the Broker News Awards 2023 Best Innovation award for its work in AI. The judging panel commended Nationwide’s focus on innovation, one of the broker’s core values, as well as its use of artificial intelligence. But what really impressed the judges was that every innovation is driven by Nationwide’s desire to create the optimal customer experience.
The continual evolution of automotive has been another draw for Donna who explains that she finds it ‘fascinating to see how the tech evolves and how manufacturers react’ as EVs and autonomous vehicles change the motoring landscape.
And although Donna says she wouldn’t call herself a petrolhead, it turns out that she has a serious passion for motorsport. She describes herself as a ‘massive Formula 1 fan’ with a soft spot for team Red Bull and she also enjoys Le Mans and the British Touring Car Championship. She also spent four years as the Social Media Co-ordinator for the BRSCC (British Racing and Sports Car Club) back in 2012.
During her time at the BRSCC, Donna notes there were not many women but she was ‘fully welcomed in as a minority’. That gender inclusivity has continued for Donna in her career, although she comments that ‘it’s a bit different in her role’ as there tends to be more women in marketing. Donna was recently involved in a research project highlighting the poor experience of women in dealerships which also, rather disappointingly, showed that one in three women would not consider a role in automotive.
Whilst Donna says that Nationwide actually has more women than men she acknowledges that women remain under-represented in the wider motoring sector, commenting that there is still more to do:
‘In motorsport, especially areas such as engineering, there are still accessibility barriers for women which need to be addressed. The automotive sector could definitely enable women with more support through mentorship and networking schemes. Thankfully from a broker perspective, our sector seems to be leading the way for automotive and is very good at championing equality.’
About Nationwide Vehicle Contracts
Manchester-based Nationwide Vehicle Contracts is one of the UK’s leading providers of car and van leasing. The business has arranged over 160,000 lease agreements for personal and business customers since it started in 2002. Nationwide has won a host of awards, including ‘Best Volume Broker’ at the Broker News Awards 2024.
More On Our Women in Broking Series
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Women in Broking is our regular series of features highlighting some of the great women who are so influential in the leasing broker sector – a sector that has been male dominated for too long. The series celebrates the Women in Broking – both those working in brokerages and those working with the broker channel – and hopes to encourage more women to have a successful career in the leasing broker market. If you would like to take part in this series please contact Laura.Lerwill@mortonmedia.co.uk
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Laura is a writer and Head of Marketing for Broker News, with extensive automotive experience from senior marketing roles with RBS/Nat West, Lombard Vehicle Management and Unipart. She is also a self-confessed petrol-head.
