Nick Ratcliffe

Customer Experience Director at Volkswagen Group UK Ltd

Oxford, England, United Kingdom

About

A transformational Board Member and Advisor, I have substantial experience of generating sustainable, profitable growth and brand value through delivery of distinctive and effective customer strategies across digital, retail and communications touchpoints - enabled by data and analytics. I’m a member of the Board of Management of a £16bn turnover, 850 employee business in the automotive sector and member of the Marketing Advisory Board for a major UK charity. I’ve held UK and global roles as Marketing Director with major brands in addition to General Management experience with full end-to-end business responsibility and P&L ownership. Leveraging my B2C and B2B marketing background, my focus is on strategic transformation and driving customer lifetime value through increased loyalty and implementation of programmes to enhance customer experience. I’ve led financial turnaround, and transformed an acquired business to align with corporate values and governance. I’ve driven quantifiable business benefits from marketing investments through the application of rigorous analytics whilst fostering the development of leading creative work, recognised by the Grand Prix at the 2018 IPA Advertising Effectiveness awards. I have a track record of defining a clear vision, cutting through ambiguity and setting out grounded, operational delivery plans. With experience ranging from owning IT development programmes, selecting and managing suppliers and agencies, to leading customer-facing teams, I’ve executed the changes in mindset, process, systems and organisational design to deliver lasting value. I gained a First Class Honours degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Oxford, which may explain my enthusiasm for evidence-based marketing science and behavioural economics. That intellectual firepower is combined with a down-to-earth attitude and the ability to inspire and bring teams together under a common purpose.

Experience

  • AI Deployment Business Lead - European Markets at Volkswagen Group
    Jun 2025 - Present · 1 yr 1 mo

    Establishing and leading the Centre of Competence for deployment of AI tools to support Marketing, Sales, Aftersales and Customer Experience across the Volkswagen Group National Sales Companies in France, Ireland, Poland, Spain and the UK.

  • Marketing Advisory Board Member at British Heart Foundation
    Nov 2024 - Present · 1 yr 8 mos

    Providing specialist guidance, insight, advice to the CMO and Marketing & Fundraising leadership team on the brand, marketing and fundraising strategies and plans.

  • Customer Experience Director at Volkswagen Group UK Ltd
    May 2019 - Present · 7 yrs 2 mos

    Customer Insight - Contact Centre - eCommerce - Direct to Consumer Sales - Data Analytics - AdTech & MarTech - Strategic Transformation - EV ecosystem - AI deployment Audi - CUPRA - SEAT - Skoda - VW Passenger Cars - VW Commercial Vehicles

  • Director Global Marketing, Sales & Service - Special Operations at Jaguar Land Rover
    Aug 2016 - Mar 2019 · 2 yrs 8 mos

    Special Operations comprises Special Vehicle Operations (producers of Jaguar and Land Rover SVR, SVAutobiography and SVX models), Vehicle Personalisation & Accessories, and Jaguar Land Rover Classic.

  • Marketing Director & Head of Digital Transformation at Audi UK
    Apr 2013 - Jul 2016 · 3 yrs 4 mos

    Responsible for the cross-functional digital transformation of Audi UK as a global pilot market. Key innovations included launch of the myAudi customer portal, and key modules in the progression towards online vehicle purchase including used car valuation, finance calculator, "quote my Audi" and a more customer-centric configuration experience. Architect of the communications strategy and metrics platform that won the Grand Prix at the 2018 IPA Advertising Effectiveness Awards. Demonstration through econometric modelling of the direct business benefits of increasing brand desirability unlocked a new approach centred on increasing the premium perceptions of the brand. Agencies across advertising, digital, social media, CRM and PR were aligned into a unified "content" factory with a coordinated production and distribution plan. The UK was the global pilot for the development of AudiSport as a sub-brand. Products launched in this period included the new RS6, RS7, RS3 and R8 as well as the Audi A3 sedan, SQ5, Q7 and A4 range.