FinTech Awards Wales – Exclusive Interview: Admiral

Matt Hyde, Director of FinTech Awards Wales meets:

Daniel Lewis,

Head of IT Digital at Admiral

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As part of our new interview series, Matt Hyde, Director of Recruit 121 and FinTech Awards Wales, talks to a whole host of professionals in and around Wales’ booming FinTech sector. This week Matt caught up with Daniel Lewis, Head of IT Digital at Admiral.

Tell us about your main focus at Admiral

Our main focus is to continue to build a sustainable business in the long term, with more focus on customer-centric travel, and the use of data, technology and digital opportunities. My role currently focuses on supporting and delivering new and digital capabilities, and enhancing existing ones, as we see the increased demand for various digital channels. The use of data and personalization of customer journeys is also high on the agenda, which will play a major role in helping to achieve our development of existing products, and support our future diversification opportunities. Alongside this, we continue to work on our ‘smart working’ approach to remote and hybrid working, ensuring we maintain strong colleague engagement across the business and attract the right talent for the future.

What impact do you feel the FinTech Awards Wales are making in the FinTech sector in Wales?

We have so much to celebrate in the Welsh FinTech space and the FinTech Awards Wales provides a platform for everyone to do this loud and proud. It’s so important to share success stories, shout about exciting milestones across the industry, and be part of a supportive community that empowers people to be effective in FinTech. These awards are a fantastic opportunity to see the breadth of talent across Wales and are sure to help us continue to grow as a leading FinTech nation.

Why have you chosen to support the awards and especially the award for FinTech Leader of the Year?

We came on the scene as a start-up in South Wales in 1993 and are now Wales’ only FTSE 100 company and a major Welsh employer, so we’re very passionate as a business about supporting our community and seeing our home nation thrive. We’re also a finance company that embraces a digital-first approach, so we’re always interested in what’s happening in the industry. For us, it was important to support the award for FinTech Leader of the Year, as we know that being a good leader requires more than just talent. A good leader can empower those around them to do their best and strive for better, so we felt that this award captures one of the most important aspects of running a successful business, and those who win it are sure to have a significant impact in the Welsh FinTech space.

How do you feel the Welsh economy has fared post-Covid and what predictions do you have for the next 12 months?

Covid accelerated our telecommuting capabilities, which has enabled us to attract new talent from a wider range across the UK, whereas we were previously limited to South Wales due to the location of our work base. This comes with its own challenges as we see market prices for FinTech roles changing across the UK. This puts pressure on our homegrown talent in Wales with more focus on how we can nurture this talent, for example investing in graduate schemes, FinTech schemes etc.

What is Admiral doing today to support FinTech in the future?

One of our biggest goals as a company that is part of the group’s purpose is to help more people take care of their future, so we are incredibly passionate about providing opportunities and support for people to thrive and develop. For FinTech, we do this in many ways, including working with Code First Girls to support more pathways into tech for women, offering apprenticeships in software engineering, data science and cyber security with Welsh universities, and giving our colleagues access to hundreds of courses to support their ongoing development in Tech. We are always looking for ways to contribute more to our community, so this will be something that will always be moving and improving.

Finally, what is the best advice you have received and what advice would you give?

I have received a lot of good advice over the years, but what has helped me the most in a leadership role is to never be afraid to ask questions and remember that there is no such thing as a stupid question. This has certainly helped bring clarity and feeds into conscious decisions where needed.

As for advice I would give, there were times in the past when I wanted to be the best at everything and sometimes felt challenged when someone new joined the team with more experience. But over the years I’ve realized that you don’t need to be an expert at everything to be a strong leader. So my advice would be to surround yourself with those with the right expertise and a diverse skill set, while encouraging their talents to be celebrated and recognized to their optimum level. I have found it to be the best way to achieve the goals and ambitions you set for yourself and your teams, while continuing to learn in your own role.