At Cardiff Blues we are incredibly fortunate to work with an abundance of brilliant companies from the likes of our Principal Partner The MSS Group, to FTSE100 companies like Jaguar Land Rover and LexisNexis Risk Solutions to local SMEs.
But why do these companies join the Cardiff Blues family and who are the people we deal with on a daily basis?
You might have seen our 'Wings For Wings' series over the last few weeks, and explaining more about the relationship between Cardiff Blues and Uber Eats is Territory Manager of Wales - and Wings for Wings presenter - Caitlin Bryant.
- What is your role in the company and how did you get involved in the industry?
My role at Uber Eats is Territory Manager of Wales. I got involved with the food delivery industry as we know it today just at the cusp of its growth back in 2016. I was in the middle of studying for a Biochemistry degree at Queen Mary University in London (slightly different career path to the one I ended up in) when I became aware of an opportunity to be a part of the Launch and Expansion team at another food delivery platform. At the time I had a real interest in the growing tech industry and was fascinated by the world of start-ups.
After being offered the role I decided to take a chance to interrupt my University studies for a year and go for it. After finishing my degree I dabbled in a variety of sectors such as science, finance and property but always wanted to revisit the tech industry. On the off chance one day I had a look to see what roles were at Uber and saw this position based in my hometown of Cardiff. It was a no-brainer for me to be a part of one of the leading global technology companies working in a very similar role in which I started my professional career with the added bonus of the role being based back home in Wales.
- What do you think are the key attributes to creating a good culture?
There are numerous things that contribute to a good work culture with so many layers to achieve it. What I always say is there is no such thing as a silly question. I often feel that poor work cultures stem from colleagues feeling as though they will be judged for asking questions or making mistakes.
One of Uber’s mottos is ‘We value ideas over hierarchy’ which is truly something that creates a great culture within a company and a thriving working environment. It is so crucial to make everyone on the team feel as though no one is more or less important than anyone else and that we are a team despite work titles or hierarchy. Above all else, creating an inclusive and fun work environment is key to getting the best out of the team and producing a good culture.
Someone said to me recently that a third of our life will be spent working and when you think another third is spent sleeping, it made me realise how important it is that everyone I work with, myself included, needs to really love and enjoy their job, as it is just a job at the end of the day so work hard but have fun while doing it!
- Are there any lessons or transferable skills you take from sport, which benefit your company?
Sport has unparalleled relationships with the working environment at Uber Eats. I believe that sport is imperative at instilling important life lessons at all levels from grass roots up to professional level. The notion of hard work, determination, sacrifice, teamwork and a willingness to take risks at times are definitely transferable skills from sport which hugely benefit Uber Eats.
Nothing comes easy in life and with the ever growing and changing food delivery industry these skills are a must for us as a company to keep our finger on the pulse and continue thriving. Just like sport though sometimes things don't go how you planned and it is in these instances in which you need to learn from to be able to turn a setback into a positive.
- Why did Uber Eats get involved with Cardiff Blues and how has the relationship developed
At Uber a key cultural norm is ‘We build globally, we live locally’. Despite the fact that Uber is one of the most highly recognised companies in the world, at the heart of all its work and operations is in the local communities and areas we are operating in. In particular, at Uber Eats in Cardiff, we put a huge emphasis on prioritising local independent restaurants and helping them out to further grow their business, whilst providing the eaters of Wales the best of the best.
When looking for a local marketing channel to be involved in to promote these local restaurants and deliver their food to the local eaters in and around Cardiff it was a no brainer that the Cardiff Blues would be perfect. With rugby being so synonymous with Welsh culture and the Cardiff Blues having a huge identity with the capital city we could not wait to work with the Blues.
Becoming a key partner with the Cardiff Blues in the midst of a global pandemic was definitely an interesting time. I am sure previously for the Cardiff Blues a lot of the key partner activations would have been at match days in the Cardiff Arms Park. However, the pandemic gave us both a great opportunity to tap into the world of digital and leverage their online following to offer promotions and a spotlight for Uber Eats local favourite restaurants.
Over the season, whilst working with the team at the Cardiff Blues we have had to get creative to engage with this digital audience. Our partnership relationship with everyone at the Blues has been fantastic, every idea and project we worked on truly became a collaborative effort. All of the team at Cardiff Blues had amazing initiatives for us to work together on to continue to grow Uber Eats around Wales and tap into new customer bases.
- What has been your highlight of working with the Cardiff Blues over the last season?
A personal highlight of mine was the release of our mini-series Wings for Wings in which we put some of Cardiff Blues wingers through their paces as they ate hot wings from one of our local restaurants in Cardiff, Wingman, while answering burning hot questions.
This gave us a great opportunity to promote one of our local favourite restaurants in Cardiff and use our partnership with the Cardiff Blues to give them the stage to do so. It was also extra special as we could finally get the players involved in some of our partnership promotions which we could not do prior due to COVID restrictions. Further to this, it was the first time I could meet the team at the Blues, I had worked so closely throughout the duration of the season in the flesh, as like so many of us have the past year we had only ever met virtually.
- How does Uber Eats benefit from working with Cardiff Blues?
Uber Eats benefits hugely from working with the Cardiff Blues especially here in Wales as it gives us a localised platform to promote our presence throughout the region.
As often with bigger companies a lot of the marketing is focused on much larger cities throughout the UK so be able to tap into the supporter reach that the Cardiff Blues has across the region, not just Cardiff, has been invaluable for Uber Eats as we continue to grow in Cardiff but also all across Wales.
We currently deliver to over 2 million of the Welsh population which is expanding more and more; so to be able to work with the Cardiff Blues to advertise this in the more far reaching communities of the region, as well as in the heart of the capital by offering supporters who have never tried Uber Eats an exclusive £10 off promotional code of RUGBY10 to try us out has been hugely successful (make sure you give it a go if you’re new to Uber Eats - see below for details!).
One of the huge benefits I have seen our partnership with Cardiff Blues has had over the past year is to be able to keep so many amazing local independent restaurants afloat, through what has been an extremely challenging year for the restaurant industry due to the pandemic. For many restaurants being able to deliver on Uber Eats has been a lifeline and to be able to leverage the Cardiff Blues to promote these restaurants on the platform has been tremendous!
