The Comms team – or Culture & Communications to give us our Sunday name – is situated in The Hive next to the Marketing and IT teams, but in reality we’ll usually be flitting from place to place conducting interviews with colleagues, sitting in on meetings, helping staff out with their Allied Extra accounts and much more. With the launch of our new department profiles we thought we’d take the opportunity to re-introduce ourselves.
Mission and Purpose
Explain what your department does, its goals, and its role in the company
The Culture and Communications team is responsible for all Allied Vehicles Group communications, both internal and external. The team also manages the Allied Vehicles Charitable Trust and looks after all things Allied Extra.
Their role, from an internal perspective, is to ensure all employees feel engaged with the company’s core purpose of ‘we move people and make and difference to their lives’ and the Allied company values.
Team Members
Introduce key team members, brief outline of experience and share a few fun facts about the team
Reporting to People & Compliance Director Diarmid McBride, the team consists of Gemma Zak-Duport, Group Head of Engagement & Communications, James Sharp, Internal Communications Manager and Kevin Gilmartin, PR & CSR Executive.
The team has a varied mix of experience, including PR, digital marketing, photography, videography, corporate social responsibility, communications and employee engagement, which all combines to equip them for any challenge that comes their way.
Gemma Zak-Duport – Gemma has overall department responsibility. Joining Allied over eight years ago, she has overseen the team growth from one to three people. Originally from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, she has worked for a variety of businesses in public relations, events and communications roles. Gemma is mum to five-year-old Kai and has become a self-confessed expert on soft play options in Glasgow.
James Sharp – James joined Allied five years ago in a fixed term graduate role. He was kept on after that role ended and developed his skills in internal communications and staff engagement before being promoted to Internal Communications Manager last year. He’s a huge Formula 1 fan and can’t wait to see Lewis Hamilton win his first Grand Prix for Ferrari!
Kevin Gilmartin – Kevin is still the team “new guy”, despite having just had his 1-year anniversary at Allied in January. With a background in traditional & digital media, he’s worked across retail, politics, higher education and since 2018 has been in automotive at Arnold Clark and Peter Vardy. He’s a sci-fi & fantasy nerd, with a particular love of TTRPGs like Dungeons & Dragons.
Day-to-Day
Describe your department’s typical tasks or projects
Days usually begin by checking the content calendar to ensure the team is on top of all content that is being delivered that week and planning for future communications. The day-to-day can involve catching up with other managers to support in best practice for communicating their projects, meeting with the company’s communications champions, doing due diligence on charities who have applied to the Charitable Trust, planning events, and so much more. No two days are the same.
Notable Achievements
Recent successes, creative solutions, or impactful projects.
The team was recently shortlisted for a Top Employer Award for their internal communications efforts and an Engagement Excellence Award. The staff summer party, which included a full funfair on the Lomond Street site, was well-attended and enjoyed by all staff.
Challenges and Solutions
What challenges does the department face and how do you overcome them?
The major challenges are keeping content engaging, relevant and interesting. In a world where we are literally bombarded with communications channels, we must ensure important messages break through the noise. Ensuring all work is planned gives the team the time to work on the quality of the content.
Another challenge is having a geographically dispersed workforce and making every employee feel part of the Allied family.
Working with a committee to help decide who the Charitable Trust funds should go to can also be a challenge. With so many worthy applications every month and a limited budget, it can be difficult to decide who is successful and who isn’t.
Why It Matters
How does your work tie into the bigger picture at Allied? How does it support the company’s mission and/or enhance the customer experience
The core purpose of Allied Vehicles is ‘we move people and make a difference to their lives.’ Our wheelchair accessible vehicles literally change lives, and it’s the team’s role to help our employees feel valued and proud to work for a business that does that every day.
Employees in the UK are among the most actively disengaged in the world and we have the power to influence our employees to be engaged. This impacts on recruitment and retention as people see the importance of our products and the positive impact on our local community.
If you have a suggestion for a charity for the Allied Vehicles Charitable Trust to support, please go to https://alliedvehiclesgroup.com/apply-here/ or email charity@allievehicles.co.uk
