My Career
My Career – Executive Leadership
I have significant experience at ‘C’-suite or Director level in high-growth early stage and medium sized businesses in both B2C and B2B including:
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Founder
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CEO
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COO
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CIO (Interim)
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Marketing Director
as well as Senior Leadership positions in Corporate Development and Sales.
Why such a range?
Firstly, as I learned from my initially ineffective but ultimately successful stint as an interim CIO, a leader can, and should, inspire and motivate people regardless of the discipline.
Secondly, I have an inherent understanding of and am able to deliver excellence in each of these key elements of a business, as well as being able to bring them together to succeed.
I think I’ll leave CFO to the experts though.
In my current role at Corndel – the UK’s largest provider of Level 3, Level 5 and Level 7 Leadership and Management apprenticeships (DfE 2020) and the highest rated training provider for learner satisfaction and employer quality (ESFA 2020) – I lead a team of people who, themselves, have been Senior (including Board Level) leaders in global organisations such as:
My senior leadership experience:
Cash Doctors (Australia)
CEO
Cash Train (Australia)
COO
CIO (Interim)
Marketing Director
MEM Consumer Finance (UK and US)
Head of Corporate Development
Deuce Racing (UK)
Sales and Marketing Director
Exchange Direct plc
Sales Manager
Organisation
Proudest Achievements
Negotiating a successful regulatory outcome after joining a business which was deemed non-compliant by the Office of Fair Trading and ensuring the longevity of the business
Having an annual employee attrition rate of 7% vs. national call centre average of 27% with 160 employees across three countries
Developing the strategic relationships which enabled UK short-term finance lender access to credit reference agencies – and which led to a 10x growth in sales
Initiating sales for and delivering successful sponsorship programmes for The British Army and LEGO
Led largest sales team for the 25th fastest growing company in the UK
Executive and Leadership Development Programmes:
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As a Leadership coach, I have successfully delivered Leadership and Management programmes to both Level 3 and Level 5 Standard
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I have contributed to the curriculum development for Corndel's Level 7 Leadership and Management Executive Development Programme, including writing modules
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I have a Foundation in Directorship from the Australian Institute of Company Directors
What people say about Lucy
From a colleague:
I discovered what it genuinely means to work with a great leader, an inspirational mentor, a conscientious manager and a fantastic colleague when I worked with Lucy. She is an exceptionally-passionate, positive person who always puts a smile on your face during a stressful working day. I have truly enjoyed working with her.
-Muhammed Salim
My Career – Customer Experience
Everyone is a customer.
I’m a great believer in treating team members; people buying from or selling to me; or people serving me in a restaurant, as customers. By this I mean building relationships which deliver great experiences for the other person.
Whether leading highly successful customer facing call centre teams; delivering value to corporate partners; managing online conversions; or designing and implementing efficient customer fulfillment operations, I have a proven track record of creating an exceptional customer experience.
In fact, one of the proudest achievements of my career was leading the team which won the National Gold Award at the Australian Customer Service Awards, voted for by the end consumer.
We won this because the team was empowered to achieve first time resolution to customer queries; supported to make mistakes they could learn from; trained to deliver an outstanding experience; and engaged in the vision and mission of the business.
When it comes to customer acquisition and delivery, I’ve put together a couple of case studies demonstrating my achievements in:
My Career – Innovation
I’m very proud that, in my career, I have experienced some really exceptional outcomes.
At PaydayUK, as Head of Corporate Development, I was responsible for two innovations which, literally, changed the short-term lending industry in the UK. One was opening the relationship with MoneySupermarket to create a payday loan channel, bringing the product to mainstream attention. The other was establishing a business case for the credit reference agencies to use short-term loan data, giving the industry access to credit referencing.
This access enabled credit scoring for short-term loan applicants and exponential growth for our business.
One product innovation was a little ahead of it’s time. “Pay on my Payday” was an online checkout option I developed which we planned to launch in 2008, years before the likes of Klarna, but the global financial crisis hit and we didn’t pursue new products.
You win some, you lose some!
In Australia, as CEO of Cash Doctors, I developed a revolving credit facility which worked as a short-term loan and, with the marketing lead of the Directors, we delivered Australia’s first 24/7 short-term finance online facility.
Perhaps my favourite and most interesting innovation was working with the USAF 48th Fighter Wing and the US National Park Services to launch The Unity Project, a UK-US collaboration to commemorate the first anniversary of 9/11 through our mutual interest in motorsport.
I managed to launch the programme at the foot of the Washington Monument and obtained quotes from the Prime Minister’s Office and Sir Paul McCartney (via his publicist) to support the project.
Sadly, the racing driver crashed in testing and the project itself failed to get off the ground financially but I’m very proud of what we achieved for the launch.