She has become a go-to person for advice for many of the Burrows Motor Group’s female employees. She will willingly help out if she can and is known for her straight talking. This means she has become an informal type of mentor for a few of the women at Burrows and she is also a fantastic motivator for them. Importantly, Debbie does not just tell people what they want to hear and her advice is always balanced and practical, which means it is also invaluable development coaching for those concerned.
Debbie also plays a significant role in the Burrows reach-out programmes to recruit into our business. Whether this is for the Search for A Star inclusive apprenticeship recruitment programme, or volunteering through the UK Automotive 30% Club’s Inspiring Automotive Women Day school outreach activities to increase diversity in the workplace, Debbie will always invest her time to help bring the right people into the business.
Debbie comments on who inspires her to progress: “I met Steve Burrows, CEO Burrows Motor Company, 29 years ago and I can honestly say I have never looked back. He asked me to work for him and I immediately said yes. During those 29 years, I have been inspired and motivated by Steve and Dean Cooper, Operations Director Burrows Motor Company. They recognised back then that women have a place in the automotive industry and in their business. They continue to inspire me (and continually mentor me) along with the amazing team of women (and men) who I work with. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female, it’s simply about getting the job done.”
Upon asking Debbie how she felt to be named as one of the Inspiring Automotive Women 2019 Award winners, she said that she was ‘speechless’, (and anyone who knows Debbie will know that this does not happen often), but also added that she was “very very humbled to have been nominated in the first place!”
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