You both joined the SPARK Leadership Programme fairly recently; can you tell us why you decided to join?  

Elena – Before joining SPARK, I went on the SPARK MBA internship to gain some experience, and it was fantastic. I learned about the company, its culture, its people, and the ways of working, and I felt it aligned with my values and expectations for life after my MBA. It was a perfect combination of a new challenge, as financial services was an unknown industry for me, and feeling confident that it was the right environment for me.  

Nino – During my MBA, I never considered going into insurance, but what Admiral offered as a FTSE 100 company with a fantastic reputation, great people culture, international business challenges, and leadership opportunities, the SPARK MBA internship was really appealing. I was then lucky enough to join SPARK full-time as an International Pricing Manager. Those first couple of months were a great introduction to what working in International Pricing is like, and it also highlighted why Admiral has consistently been recognised as a Great Place to Work.  

What’s it been like since joining the SPARK Leadership Programme?  

Nino – The good thing about SPARK is that before getting involved in one of the international projects, there’s a huge focus on the induction process and pricing training. The intense pricing training provides crucial information around the main pricing concepts and data types used at Admiral, providing practical opportunities to combine analytical and business thinking when tackling real-life risk and pricing problems. Since finishing this training, I’ve been involved in a large-scale project across Spain, Italy and the USA, which has been really exciting and suits my interest and skills. One of my favourite things on the project is having the opportunity to talk to people across Admiral Group, learn from their real business challenges, and make real impact by supporting them with all the MBA and pricing knowledge that I’ve gained so far. 

Elena – I joined SPARK more recently at the end of January 2023, so I’m still in my training and induction stage, learning all about the unique pricing techniques we use at Admiral. Like Nino says, it’s so valuable to get such a deep-dive insight into pricing here before going onto the various international projects that I’ll be involved in going forward. Alongside the training, I’ve been working on a new project to implement an innovative mindset in the team, organising workshops, brainstorming sessions, and developing an innovation plan for the year. I’m also involved in small projects to make improvements to our processes in pricing. 

How different is the experience from your initial expectations of being on the SPARK Leadership Programme and working at Admiral? 

Elena – My expectations were that I’d have a lot of responsibility, freedom to try new things, and be empowered to take the lead from the beginning, and this is exactly what I’ve found. As I did the SPARK summer internship, I already had a good idea for what I could expect as I spoke with a lot of people around the business who’d been on the SPARK or Future Leaders Programme, the other MBA programme we have here, so I had real insight into what the programme would involve ahead of joining. 

Nino – I actually expected that I might need to have a heavy technical background and an in-depth understanding of the insurance industry to succeed in the programme. Luckily, not only did this expectation turn out to be wrong, but SPARK provided me with all the tools, training and support I needed to fill any gaps in knowledge that I felt prevented me from confidently becoming a future leader at Admiral Group. 

Do you feel there’s diverse representation on the SPARK Leadership Programme? 

Nino – Absolutely. The International Pricing Managers on the programme come from many different countries, business schools, and have varied job experiences. Moreover, with three of us joining the team recently, we’ve strengthened the female representation on the programme even more. The fact that both the Group and UK CEOs are women from diverse backgrounds who joined Admiral through our MBA Leadership Programmes, SPARK undoubtfully continues to contribute to a sustainable focus on diversity, which is also one of the main pillars on which the Admiral culture is based. 

Elena - I definitely agree that there’s good representation in the SPARK Leadership Programme, especially of nationalities, genders, and career backgrounds. This diversity adds a richness to the programme, offering a variety of opinions, points of view, approaches, experiences, and interests, which enhances the team, helps with the execution of projects, and makes new SPARK joiners feel at ease from day one. 

Considering everything you’ve learned and developed so far, what do you hope to do after the SPARK Leadership Programme?  

Elena – After SPARK, I hope to be involved in exciting projects to continue learning more about the business. I’d also love to lead a team, and simply continue developing my knowledge and expertise in the industry.  

Nino – In the short term, I plan to go beyond the project I’m currently leading and dive deeper into the profitability and service challenges of the Intermediary channel across the international businesses of Admiral Group. Further into the future I aspire to step into a leadership role in the wider business, either on a product, channel diversification, or the profitability side, and help the company grow in the international arena. 

As you can see, our SPARK Leadership Programme offers a world of opportunities that can get you in the best position to be a future leader here.  

If you’re thinking of your next steps post-MBA, our MBA Programmes at Admiral may be the perfect choice for you. Applications for the SPARK Leadership Programme are open right now.