About me

• Head of Marketing at Experian
• Studied: BSc Business Economics, 2002

About my career

My first job after graduating was as a Graduate Management Trainee at Allianz. A close friend referred me to the company, and I attended a graduate assessment day, later being offered a place on the scheme. Although I was initially based in Manchester, I took placements across the country before ending up in London.

After leaving Manchester Metropolitan University, I focussed my career along a purely financial services route, as my course gave me a great grounding in business, finance and the world. Studying at Manchester Metropolitan really broadened by horizons of career opportunities and gave me the confidence to reach higher than the expectations I had before.

It’s amazing how much I thought I would never use or apply anything I learned in business forecasting, yet every day I’m forecasting from budgets to brands impressions.

I quickly realised that being part of a broader strategic business was where my skills were best suited, and marketing is the place for that. In my current role, I lead marketing for a global technology and marketing services organisation, whilst some people think marketing is all fluff (words and pictures), it could not be further from the truth!  Marketing is at the centre of every great business and successful brand.

In major companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola, American Express and Uber, their business results, bottom line and corporate culture is fuelled by their brand and marketing teams. From building customer and market insights, to developing the brand, product and service propositions, building sales and engagement channels, through to delivering creative communications and campaigns. To lead and effect all these things you need to understand the data, financials and ROI. That is a huge part of what Manchester Metropolitan gave to me!

My top tip for students is

Communication, communication, communication. It does not matter how smart you are, how great your plan appears to be or how innovative your idea is. If you can’t articulate yourself in a clear and compelling manner, you won’t be able to make things happen.

I’m inspired by

The staff who taught me at Manchester Met were fantastic; Kevin Tinsdale, James Khan and Kevin Alberton were influential and inspired me to achieve my goals.

Why I love Manchester Met

Simple, everything about it and my university experience.

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