It’s so much more than cars: Ebbon’s Claire Hughes on an automotive career

How did your career journey begin?

I always wanted to go to university. My parents went and they advised me to ‘do what you love for three years’, so I did! I studied for a BA Honours degree in Sport and Human Movement Studies at Cardiff University. I played a lot of sports – including playing rugby for Welsh Universities. When I finished studying, I went travelling and then came home and got a local job – that’s how I started at Arval.

How was your time at Arval?

I was at Arval UK for 19 years in a variety of roles, which definitely kept my interest! I started out as an Implementation Executive, which was one of my favourite positions dealing with new customers, which was exciting. That role taught me how the business operated, so it was a fantastic grounding.

Then I moved into Key Accounts which was obviously very relationship driven, and I then went into Business Change. There I learnt about IT, as Business Cutover Manager I looked after the transition to a new back office platform. That led to a Change Manager role – managing corporate centre projects across four countries. From there, I became Vehicle Acquisition Manager which gave me the opportunity to work with network partners – including Ebbon.

Why did you leave Arval?

I genuinely wasn’t looking to move but the opportunity came up for the Head of Commercial Partnerships at Ebbon which was a step up for me. Ebbon came across as a great company to work for – a smaller, very family oriented business. I was excited by the idea of new products and a new organisation so, in the end, it was quite an easy decision and I’m glad I took it.

What’s it like working at Ebbon?

Really motivating, everyone is empowered to make their own decisions. There is no fear of getting it wrong and you really are the master of your own destiny. It’s also a very inclusive environment.

What is a typical day like in your role?

There is no typical day! I spend a lot of time visiting customers – initially I only looked after the leasing companies but now it’s the whole customer base. So I’ll also be out seeing retail groups and, more recently, leasing brokers and managing those relationships. Plus I get involved in internal projects – we have a new platform coming so I’m working on the rollout. 

What does your working pattern look like?

My contract is home-based – Ebbon actually pre-empted Covid with flexible working, which is great. It depends what’s going on but I usually do a couple of days from home, a couple out seeing customers and I’m in the office once a week. In terms of juggling home life, Ebbon is so flexible – it enables you to support your kids as long as the work gets done, which is very helpful. Our MD, Justine Hawkins, is also a mother so she gets it.