Diary of an Insurer: Admiral’s Danielle Jones

Monday 

I started my week with a visit to the dentist to get a filling – things can only get better, right? Luckily they did, Admiral’s flexible working policy meant I could treat myself to a wander around my local high street and a prolonged lunch. 

When I logged on, I caught up with my team. Our Monday call is normally an opportunity to catch up on a mix of business and social topics. It’s set to be a busy week so we reviewed our progress against our monthly deliverables. I find this helps us to prioritise ongoing and new projects. 

I believe my team’s role captures the essence of the group’s purpose to help more people to look after their future as we have the honour of delivering and supporting initiatives that help our wider society and communities.

After lunch, I met with a potential recipient of funding. It is an opportunity for Admiral to be a part of an environmentally focused initiative in Swansea. This is followed by a meeting to discuss the business potentially sponsoring a sustainability conference in Newport. 

Having grown up in an ex-coal mining town in the Welsh valleys, I’m incredibly proud of the contributions the group makes in local communities as I’ve seen first-hand the incredible impact these initiatives can have.

Tuesday 

I took the train to our headquarters in Cardiff and met with our group sustainability team to discuss our annual report and our sustainability report. 

It’s always useful to come together as a wider team and prize the insights I get from colleagues. Their diverse perspectives spark new ideas and deepen our understanding and appreciation of our team’s impact.

It’s Admiral’s environmental awareness week, so at lunchtime I took part in terrarium-making session alongside colleagues from across the business. I wasn’t great at it but with some practice, it could become a new hobby.

My day ended with a governors’ meeting at a local primary school. I signed up to be a community governor as a result of Admiral’s Impact Hour programme, which empowers colleagues to make a difference in their communities.

Wednesday

The day started with a quick progress check-in with the team and a discussion of challenges the team felt they were facing and how best to navigate them.

I’m really proud of the work that my team does and think it’s a really exciting time to be part of it. We’re growing and recruiting for someone to lead on social impact measurement so the afternoon kicked off with our first round of interviews.

Thursday

Thursday morning, much like Wednesday was more interviews. I’ve been impressed by the candidates and really proud of the talent that the Admiral name attracts.

As a group-focused team, our work has an international impact as we support initiatives in all of our markets. In the afternoon, one of the things that the team and I discussed were upcoming donations to organisations in Italy which support people into employment.

Later, I signed off on a batch of charitable payments from the UK Community Fund,

 which provides grants for charities that colleagues have chosen. I love that we can support charities that are close to our colleagues’ hearts.

Friday

It’s group board day, and we presented the annual sustainability strategic review to the group board. 

It’s my third group board and it is an opportunity to provide an update on our strategy and future goals and build on the board’s input.

I then had a meeting with our head of motor repair to discuss a range of initiatives I’m keen for us to collaborate on.

A positive culture is key to any successful and sustainable business and I had the pleasure of announcing the sustainability team’s quarterly awards which recognises colleagues’ contribution over the last three month. There were three very well-deserving recipients.

My Friday night consisted of a wholesome visit to my parents’ house. They only live a 20-minute walk from me. 

I cooked my new casserole dish for the family and stayed in to watch Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams show on BBC iPlayer. It’s a must-watch for anyone and emblematic of the impact of social purpose.