Erin Baker puts ‘women in the driving seat’ in new Auto Trader podcast

 Auto Trader, the UK’s largest automotive marketplace, has announced a new podcast to showcase the automotive industry as a great place for women to work to attract and retain talent.

Women in the driving seat, hosted by the company’s editorial director Erin Baker, brings pairs of guests together to tackle topics such as sustainability, customer service and the retail sector.

As well as examining key industry trends, the discussion will also provide a space for guests to share the balls they’ve dropped and the plates they’re spinning.

The first episode, launching on February 20, features racing drivers Nathalie McGloin and Vicki Butler-Henderson.

The guests for series one span various segments of the automotive industry, from manufacturer to retailer to energy suppliers, helping to secure diversity of thought and experience.

As well as McGloin and Butler-Henderson, the guests include BBC sustainability journalist Lucy Siegle, broadcaster, and former editor of Glamour magazine Jo Elvin, plus Vicky Read, chief executive of ChargeUK and Nicole Mellilo-Shaw, MD of Volvo Cars.

As well as being a multi-award winning journalist, Baker has appeared as a judge on The Apprentice and has been campaigning for better representation of women in the automotive industry through data-backed campaigns and talent pipeline creation for many years.

Baker said: “The female-empowerment genre is too one-dimensional – we need to lift the corporate curtain to understand that, while we strive for equality, it can be hard out there for women juggling professional and personal demands.

“By sharing stories about our worries, fears and achievements, we can inspire and inform not only the next generation but our peers too, and hopefully each of us will feel less alone.

“We have an amazing line up of guests: women I have admired and known for years, and I can’t wait to get them in the driving seat, in front of a microphone.”

Recent Auto Trader campaigns focused on championing women in the automotive industry include the new Women of the Year Award at the annual Retailer Awards and sponsoring Green TV’s Top Women in EV initiative. Auto Trader have been patrons of the Auto 30% Club since 2017.