- Pictured above taking part in the Women in Broking session at the BVRLA Leasing Broker Conference are l to r: Sam Ward, Ellie Tucker and Laura Lerwill
EARLIER this year, Broker News launched the Women in Broking mentoring programme to provide monthly one-to-one coaching sessions for women in the sector who want to develop their careers.
It complements our popular monthly Women in Broking features supported by Drivalia, which showcase inspiring women from across the broking community, along with our networking events which have been supported by Fleet Alliance and Partridge BMW.
Three highly experienced Women in Broking committee members – Sam Ward, Commercial Director at Vansdirect, Hannah-Louise Kirkpatrick, MD of Harmoto, and Laura Muir, Head of AR and Partner at Fleet Alliance – are mentors on the programme.
At the BVRLA Leasing Broker Conference last week, Laura Lerwill, who runs the Women in Broking programme, asked the first mentee, Ellie Tucker, Senior Account Manager at Synergy Car Leasing, and her mentor, Sam Ward, to share their experiences so far.
If you missed the Women in Broking session at the BVRLA Leasing Broker Conference, here’s a recap:
Laura Lerwill: Sam, why did you volunteer to become a mentor on the programme?
Sam Ward: I’ve been really fortunate to be supported by some great people within this industry. And for me, this was an opportunity to give back so to share my learning and my experience and support somebody else on their journey. And I find that I always end up learning something new. So it’s a win-win for me.
Laura: Talk us through how you’re benefiting.
Sam: The sessions are going really well, I’ve loved learning more about Ellie, her role and her career plan, and we’ve structured the sessions to focus on specific areas that Ellie has said she’d like to develop. And I’ve seen real growth already in the way that she’s approaching certain tasks and situations, which, for me, has been really rewarding and motivating, and I’m really looking forward to continuing supporting Ellie with her journey and building upon her strengths.
Laura: Ellie, how are you finding the sessions?
Ellie Tucker: I’m finding them really rewarding. We have a meeting once a month, but we found that it’s gone a bit further than that. We check in sort of every week or so. Sam’s quite proactive in that she’ll send me a book or website or video that can help me develop professionally, and it’s really valuable to have someone so experienced and successful on hand to give me advice whenever I need it because there’s no handbook on how to be good at this job. So it’s nice to have someone to share advice and tips along the way.
Laura: So what would you say to other women in the industry that might be considering getting a mentor on how it can help?
Ellie: I think women who are looking to progress or to strive further in their careers, but they’re not quite sure how to, I think the mentoring programme is a great place to start, just to get a bit of insight from somebody who’s been through the journey already or are still going through it. It’s just invaluable and can only be of benefit.
Sam Ward won the inaugural Women in Broking Award at the 2023 Broker News Awards, while Ellie Tucker was identified as a Rising Star at the 2025 Broker News Awards.
Photos: BVRLA Flickr
Interested in getting involved with Women in Broking?
If you’d like to join the Women in Broking mentoring programme featured at the BVRLA Leasing Broker Conference, or take part in our Women in Broking series, please contact Laura Lerwill who runs the Women in Broking programme (Laura.Lerwill@mortonmedia.co.uk).
Broker News Newsletter 02 December 2025
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Sarah Tooze has been an automotive journalist for more than 15 years, specialising in the fleet and transport sectors. She has held senior positions at industry-leading B2B titles Fleet News and Smart Transport, and led campaigns championing motorists as consumer editor for online used car marketplace Heycar and motoring advice website HonestJohn.co.uk. In 2017 she won the Newspress Automotive Business Journalist award.
