Part 3 – The Award Winning Woman 

Kelly’s career is a three-part interview with Clegg Gifford’s Operations Director, Kelly Lane. This third and final segment is published to coincide with International Women’s Day in recognition of Kelly’s contributions to the progression of women in the insurance industry.

For parts one and two please follow the links below

Part one: Kelly’s Career

Part two: Kelly’s Career – it Takes a Team

How have you grown over the course of your career?

Throughout my career, I’ve had to evolve.  For anyone that knows me, I’ve been known to have quite a hot temper, so I’ve learnt to cool down, to breathe and think about what I want to say before I open my mouth.

Networking is definitely something that’s kept me afloat throughout my career.  As I’ve mentioned my job is all about the people and I surround myself with teams of professionals who are go-getters, good communicators and great at their roles.  That has an accumulative effect and the result is wisdom.

I am also forever honing my communication skills and the biggest thing for me is to remain teachable.  There is always something new to learn every day.

How would you describe Clegg Gifford and what makes us different from other insurance Brokers?

I’ll give you three words, Clegg Gifford is fun, versatile, and dynamic.  It’s the most interesting place I’ve worked to this day.  I am absolutely thrilled to be a member of the Executive Committee, who are amazing and have a wealth of experience and knowledge.  I feel empowered to do my job and aim to inspire others to feel the same.

If you had to start your career all over again, what would you do differently and what would you do the same?

I have no regrets at all, I love my career. It’s been chequered, but has been varied. I’ve worked all over Europe, in different sectors, including retail, manufacturing, and more recently insurance.

One thing I would change is getting my qualifications earlier in my career.  I think it’s more difficult later in life when family and home take over and you have less time.  I can really advocate getting them when you are younger to provide a bedrock.  That is why we support all our staff members to get their qualifications and champion our Apprenticeship schemes. Our staff can be supported whilst they gain their qualifications and subsequently progress.  Having said that, we also empower people to achieve their Certs later in their careers too.

Can you tell us about someone who inspired you to look differently at your job? And how it helped you?

My boss many years ago was blunt enough to tell me to hone my temper and use my passion to progress.  He told me that I had everything needed to be very successful, I just had to channel it in the right way, to learn to calm down.  He also taught me how to communicate and put the right teams together and how to get the best out of people.  We are still friends and keep in contact and I have to say, he definitely shaped my career into what it is today and I am very grateful to him for that.

What have you done to improve the company that you are particularly proud of?

Lots of things.  I am very proud of my team, always proud of them, they are amazing.  I just couldn’t do the work that I do without them.  But to be more specific, I was very lucky to be able to help reshape the Claims Department we have at Clegg Gifford, that’s now award-winning.  I am very honoured to have been on that journey with them and very nice to look back on.

I am currently working with my amazing team to deliver our new High Street offer.  We are aiming to bring broking back to the High Street which is fun but also very challenging at times.  We are making sure we always deliver first-class customer service in those High Street branches be it via phone, email, or walk-ins, to ensure our customers are getting a top-quality service.  Recognition of this fact was when we won the 2022 Customer Champion of the Year at the Insurance Times Awards, enormously gratifying.