Catherine Faiers has been responsible for Auto Trader’s day-to-day operations since May 2019, when she was appointed chief operating officer. She joined the company as marketing director in 2017, and prior to that was COO at Addison Lee, corporate development director at Trainline and a director at Close Brothers Corporate Finance.
Here, Faiers discusses how she progressed to her current role, the state of the used car market, what makes Auto Trader special and why it always tries to be as open as possible with partners, plus why it has partnered with What Car? to display its used car stock.
This interview is an extract from What Car?‘s monthly Insight PDF. Click here for access to the latest issue, exclusive to Autocar Business.
Tell us about your career?
“I’ve had lots of different jobs in lots of different industries, but for the past 15 years or so I’ve only been working in relatively big digital businesses.
“Whilst I’ve never had a career plan, I’m curious, and I like to learn. Every new job that I’ve done has always been about learning something new. I also follow people I know or have a connection with. I believe you have a choice in who you work for, and have focused on looking for leaders who are going to support and get the best out of me.
“I’ve also always looked at industries that are going through a huge change, too. At Trainline we built an app and transitioned to being a digital business rather than a call centre. I joined Addison Lee just as Uber arrived in London, sparking huge change. And then I joined Auto Trader when the surge in interest in electrification, autonomy and new ownership models began.
“I’m a big believer that you can make things happen when you are in an industry where things are happening. I find that really exciting.”
What culture sits behind Auto Trader’s success?
“It is based on collaboration, which means a very flat organisational structure with almost no hierarchy. Everyone has a voice and is encouraged to express a point of view. And it’s very much a culture that welcomes challenge, different thinking and different perspectives.
“How do we maintain that? Firstly, a member of the senior leadership team meets every single person that joins the business as part of the recruitment process, for no other reason than to get to know them a bit and see if they think they’ll fit with our culture, and values.
“Secondly, our PLC board meets with people from across our employee networks every other month, and they spend an hour and a half or so with none of the exec team there, just the non-execs. It’s usually themed in some way, and it means the board is connected to our people directly, and vice-versa.