Alphabet employees named as Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars 2021

Alphabet (GB), leasing and mobility specialist, today announces that three of its employees, Danielle Baldwin-Rowe, Katie Asplin, and Kelly Jeffery have been recognised as ‘Rising Stars’ in the automotive industry, at this year’s Autocar Great Women awards, for their hard work and dedication to the industry over the past year. Evie Johnson, Leanne Christmas and Rachel McDermott from BMW Group, also received this outstanding recognition.

Now in its sixth year, the award run by Autocar in association with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), celebrates the up-and-coming stars of the British automotive industry. Candidates are selected from a number of areas across the vehicle industry including, design, manufacturing, marketing, operations, people development, PR and communications and sales.

Danielle Baldwin-Rowe, Internal Communications and Engagement Manager at Alphabet GB, keeps the company’s 430 employees informed and engaged, delivering coaching and workshops, and implementing strategies for continuous improvement. She has led pioneering work within Alphabet and the wider BMW Group’s Diversity and Inclusion programme, and her passion, drive and dedication has been instrumental in the group achieving a bronze award from the Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion (ENEI).

Katie Asplin, Communications Manager for Alphabet, was formally positioned in her role in late 2020 after stepping in at a particularly turbulent time, as the pandemic hit. Katie proved herself an invaluable part of Alphabet’s COVID-19 response, not only delivering meaningful and crucial communication projects throughout, but also in spearheading the crisis response team to help businesses navigate uncertainties, whilst also continuing to push the company’s digital marketing strategy forward. 

Kelly Jeffery, Customer Care Manager at Alphabet GB, joined the company in 2016 as a Business Process Executive and has impressed ever since. She is responsible for ensuring high-levels of satisfaction amongst Alphabet customers and keeps the customer at the heart of all she undertakes. A key focus of Kelly’s over the past year, has been to track themes of dissatisfaction and to feed this back into the business to improve and streamline processes. 

Alongside the three Alphabet finalists, a further three employees from BMW Group have also been recognised as Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars 2021. Evie Johnson, Retailer Performance Centre Manager, BMW UK, has been praised for her exceptional work promoting mental health across the group, including rolling out Mental Health First Aiders. Leanne Christmas, Director of Compliance, BMW Group Financial Services, launched the company’s first ever Female Leadership Network group to inspire and empower future female leaders. And Rachel McDermott, General Manager of Group Brands (Finance), BMW Group Financial Services, was central to the company’s outstanding sales of finance in 2019, as well as leading the digital and contactless sales transformation during the pandemic.

Nick Brownrigg, CEO, Alphabet (GB) said: “It’s fantastic to see so many of our Alphabet and BMW Group employees recognised in this prestigious industry award. Danielle, Katie and Kelly have all made a significant impact to both internal and external business operations at Alphabet over the past 12 months and are paving the way as role models for other women across the organisation. 

“While it hasn’t been a straightforward year, it’s people like these who have enabled Alphabet and BMW Group to go above and beyond for our customers. These outstanding women set a fantastic example day in and day out, and are all going to go far, so it’s great to see them recognised across the wider industry.”