Global leader in automotive testing and proving grounds, UTAC, has recently announced the appointment of Kirsty Andrew as vice president of UK operations. Her role sees her being the first dedicated UK vice president, showcasing the UTAC’s commitment to enhancing and further developing automotive testing facilities.
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UTAC has been providing a range of vehicle services and automotive testing for the market since 1924 such as proving tests for vehicle safety, as well as compliance and performance testing in-keeping with regulations. Testing facilities include UTAC Millbrook which has over 50km of test tracks sporting a variety of surfaces and technical characteristics.
We spoke with Kirsty Andrew to learn more about the role and to discuss her goals for the coming year.
Just Auto (JA): Could you discuss your new role and what it entails?
Kirsty Andrew (KA): My role as vice president for UK operations involves all the testing activity and anything else operational that takes place in the UK.
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By GlobalDataIn the UK we have two sites, one in Leyland and one at Millbrook; one is a proving ground, one is a test facility. My job is to be the figurehead, to give people a point of reference.
We are well established in terms of testing capability and engagement with OEMs, but I think this role provides a type of clarity of purpose internally, and a clarity of mission externally.
You are the first UK designated Vice President of the company. How did this role come about?
It’s all customer led. This is us saying we’ve looked more globally at a group level, at our operational effectiveness, and decided that a lead in the country who can focus on operational delivery is going to produce the best results for us as a company, and for our customers.
We aren’t a company without our customers, that’s the rational for doing this. In the previous roles I’ve had such as being the vice president in charge of security and defence, we’ve done a beta test of those ideas that we’re spreading now and showed how we will deliver them to the customers and to the team; it’s about improved retention and reduced attrition.
You need people to feel comfortable that you are empowering them and you’re not just saying that. That will be my challenge.
Stability of the team allows people to feel comfortable with the change; they’ve got to know how we’re doing, and then they can do it. It provides a nice, solid platform to deploy all our ideas and thinking, but also gives the team confidence to come forward with their ideas. That will be the way to make the biggest impact, with the team generating ideas, stress-testing them, and then coming in with suggestions on how they want to get there.
You need people to feel comfortable that you are empowering them and you’re not just saying that. That will be my challenge.
How did you become involved with the automotive industry?
I find myself in a leadership position where there are very few female peers. For me, automotive was always something I wanted to do. My father worked in the automotive industry. For me, it was always a natural environment that I felt at home in, whether on a shop floor, in and around automotive engineering or in motorsport.
My family were involved in the automotive sector so that potential to think that it wasn’t possible wasn’t even a frame of reference for me. I didn’t think of it as ‘because I am female should I be doing this?’ but rather thought in terms of, ‘why would I not do this?’
The challenge to those of us who are senior leaders in the automotive industry, is to make sure going forward that we don’t have to have had a dad or a mum who worked in the automotive industry to feel comfortable going into it. The challenge for people like me is to try and help create the opportunity and environment for other people.
What are you looking to focus on this year?
The key things that we’re working on is efficiency of deployment. The landscape in which we operate (the automotive sector), is undergoing quite a lot of change. I think what we need to do is ensure that we’re challenging ourselves to be as responsive as we can be, because the landscape is changing all the time.
It is quite dynamic, although legislation and the drive towards net zero have been in place for a while, the details, the tactical requirements have changed and continue to change.
In all the roles that I’ve had, I’ve been a catalyst for change.
Part of the focus is on our team and our people. We are doing some cross training between departments, some upskilling, taking a real focus on our people. In doing that, we improve our service to our customers.
We’re challenging ourselves and each other to say, what could we do differently? Just because we’ve done this a certain way for a for a length of time, doesn’t mean it’s the best way. We need to challenge ourselves to think a little bit differently, that’s what I bring to the party, in all the roles that I’ve had, I’ve been a catalyst for change.
We sometimes underestimate people’s capacity for change; people can be resistant. When we’re testing for regulatory compliance, there’s an outcome, a process and a methodology, but a lot of how you prepare for it, how you engage with the customer, none of those things are necessarily prescriptive. That’s what we can try and flex the skills and ability of our team.
The market is changing. If we look at what’s happened in the last year, three major markets have had an election; America, UK and France. All the elections in the same year are disruptive to business. I see this as an opportunity for change and an improvement. There’s obviously going to be nervousness about some of the things that might change under new governments, but I think those can be something that you flex to your advantage, because it provides opportunity.
There will be some change, we just need to make sure that we’re as well positioned as possible to respond to those changes, whether legislative or in our customer base.
Over your career in the automotive sector have you seen more woman working in the industry over time?
I would say it’s still disappointingly low. It’s not just about women, it’s about all elements of diversity; we need people who think differently. More of the same leads to more of the same. That’s not to say that the people who already established in the industry are not doing great things – clearly, they are – but maybe we can do different things with different people with different backgrounds in the team.
I am frequently still the only woman in the room.
I used to work for a company who specialised in gearboxes; I worked there for nearly six years. We would have a couple of meetings with clients a week. I worked there in the late ‘90s, early noughties and I only had six meetings where there was another female present.
Nowadays there certainly is a jump. However, I am frequently still the only woman in the room.
