By Business & Finance 
Managing director at Just Eat Ireland Amanda Roche-Kelly takes the Business & Finance 60-second challenge.
Q. What was your first job?
My first job was selling tights, which really kick-started my passion for sales and put me on my career journey. I went on to work for Bewley’s and Irish Distillers in sales roles and developed a love for sales, closing the deal and, most importantly, delivering for the customer.
Q. What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date?
2017 has started well for Just Eat with the signing of an additional 35 new restaurant partners. We now have 1,900 restaurant partners across Ireland with over 30 different cuisine types for customers to choose from. The breadth and range of our restaurant partners is something I’m particularly proud of and ambitious about growing as we continue to look at new ways to meet our customers changing needs and to provide more choice and options.
Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
To understand what your customer wants and to always think from their perspective. If you’re delivering with them in mind then you’re on the right track!
Q. If you could step into the shoes of one businessperson for the day, who would it be and why?
Beyoncé. Since founding her own entertainment and management company Parkwood Entertainment in 2007, she has added a music label to its operations and signed its first three artists, all of whom are women. She has also launched the ‘athleisure’ clothing brand Ivy Park and invested in WTRMLN WTR, a female founded watermelon water startup.
Empowering women seems to be an ongoing theme for her, which is very much in line with my vision of supporting diversity and female entrepreneurship.
Q. In three words or less, how do you define success?
Happy customers and partners.
Q. How do you motivate yourself and your staff?
I believe communication is central to the success of any organisation and it’s key to how I engage with the team at Just Eat.
We’ve a diverse range of customers and partners and ultimately it takes a diverse employee base to meet these needs.
I like to keep an open dialogue between management and employees to ensure we’re all working towards the one goal and that everyone feels they have a role to play in helping the company to get there.
Q. How do you relax?
My favourite down time is the time spent with family. With the working week so busy I like to relax at the weekend with them.
Q. What’s your motto?
Think positive, picture positive and positive things will happen.
Q. What are your aspirations for the future of your business?
Recently, Just Eat undertook a brand refresh which reflects the amplified focus on food discovery, inspiring consumers to make new choices and explore the range of over 30 cuisine types through Just Eat’s more than 1,900 restaurant partners in Ireland.
The Just Eat app and website have been refreshed and new features will be added over the coming months to enable better discovery of favourite foods and restaurants including a huge range of healthy options.
The redesign focuses on delivering mealtime inspiration for lunch, dinner and even desserts whilst helping customers explore new cuisines.
We’ve ambitious plans for the coming year and we’re looking forward to a busy summer season at the festivals where we’ll be showing up and engaging customers at a range of events from Taste of Dublin to Electric Picnic.
2017 has started well for Just Eat with the signing of an additional 35 new restaurant partners
EMPOWERED WOMAN
Amanda Roche-Kelly joined Just Eat in 2012 as head of sales and quickly progressed to her current role managing the Irish business across sales, marketing, operations and customer care.
As managing director, she has been directly responsible for driving the company’s growth and developing the use of technology to reach Just Eat customers in new ways.
Roche-Kelly holds a BA in Business and a Diploma in Marketing and French from DkIT and was shortlisted in both 2015 and 2016 for the WMB Businesswoman Award and the IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year awards.
