Alumni

Nic Yates

Career Path: Associate Director, Commercial, Silverbean
Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

When leaving university I wanted my first role to be within digital marketing, I commenced my career at Silverbean a specialist affiliate and partner marketing agency. I didn't know it at the time but affiliate marketing was the perfect role for me coming out of university as partnerships can expose you to all elements of digital marketing within one channel.

What are you doing now?

I started Silverbean in 2013 and was promoted from Account Executive to Manager to Senior to Performance Account Director within 5 years. My client exposure meant I gained experience across retail, travel, ticketing and subscription roles. At the time the agency managed affiliate, SEO, PPC, and data/ analytic campaigns so my role as Performance Account Director gave me the exposure to manage multiple teams and client budgets. In 2021 I moved into the commercial team for Silverbean with the ambition to attract enterprise business to the agency. Aligning commercial proposition with affiliate and partner marketing has helped to attract businesses like John Lewis and Partners, New Balance, The Body Shop, Virgin Australia, Harry's to name a few. These are businesses who want to partner with Silverbean within EMEA, APAC, North America or globally.

What was it about Northumbria that made you decide to study here?

The business school had recently moved into the new campus building and had a great reputation at the time. Moving to Northumbria University was more of a personal choice, it was far enough from home but close enough to get back for family and my all important football season ticket and it had a great night life.

What was it like studying at Northumbria? (eg. were there a mix of lectures, seminars, team projects? Was the feedback constructive?):

It was a good balance and mix of lectures, seminars and team projects. I really enjoyed the seminars and team collabs as it gave you the opportunity to meet new people and gave real life experience collaborating with other businesses.

If you took on a placement during your course how did you feel this helped you in your career/ with your studies?

The course I selected had a placement year within year 3. I went to an auditing firm which was linked to my part time role at the time. One thing I did learn on placement was that a formal culture was not for me, it did however give me some great transferable skills on excel to manage and gain insights from a large data set which has really helped me throughout and my career and still does today.

What was the best thing about your course?

The business foundations and principles it shared. SWOT, PESTEL and other frameworks are all things I have used in my career over time. The university lecturers were all great, I still speak with David and we set up the graduate scheme at Silverbean alongside other things like guest lectures.

How did studying at Northumbria help you achieve your career goals/ give your career an edge?

At the time to go into a digital marketing agency a degree was expected. The degree gave me a foundation of knowledge but it also gave employers the confidence of my ability to learn. The market was really competitive within the North East for market entry roles so I believe university helped me to mature as a person whilst also giving me transferable skills for my first role.

What did you enjoy most about your time at Northumbria University?

Social - nights out, university football league on a Saturday, meeting friends for life. Education - lecturing team were personable and cared. Course directly helped to help get my first job.