In this episode, I speak with Hannah Kershaw, Chief Product Officer at Domestic and General, a company that you might not have heard of but absolutely need in your corner the next time your dishwasher breaks. Hannah's journey took her from marketing to e-commerce, into product leadership at GoCompare, and now to transforming Product at a billion-pound growth organisation.
We cover a lot, including:
- What Domestic and General actually does: A century-old, billion-pound business with 6.5 million subscribers across 12 markets, providing repair and replacement services for household appliances through service plans and insurance products.
- A behind-the-scenes powerhouse: Domestic and General powers customer journeys via major retail and manufacturer partnerships (e.g. Argos, AO, Hotpoint), often handling registration, support, and repair logistics under their partners' brands.
- Product complexity in a partner-led model: Coordinating customer experience, retailer requirements, manufacturer constraints, and service delivery logistics - without directly employing a single repair technician.
- Building product from scratch: How Hannah established a product function at Domestic and General, moving from a traditional delivery model to domain-based product teams focused on growth and customer retention.
- Evolving team structures: Starting with customer and partner-aligned squads before transitioning to domain-oriented teams, reflecting shifts in strategic focus and incorporating feedback from engineering and delivery teams.
- Product vs Proposition: Domestic and General brings together digital product managers and proposition managers - handling platforms and customer experiences on one side, and the commercial performance of insurance offerings on the other.
- Philosophy of simplification and belief: Encouraging resilience and optimism, Hannah champions a mindset that anything is possible - helping teams cut through complexity and deliver tangible outcomes.
- Pragmatism over product purism: While Domestic and General aspires to be product-led, the focus is on real-world delivery - balancing best practice with the pace and realities of a high-growth, partner-centric business.
- Executive-level impact: Demonstrating the value of Product by delivering outcomes. Early wins - such as improving online claims and conversion rates - helped build credibility and demand for product ways of working.
Check out Domestic and General
Check out Domestic and General's website: https://www.domesticandgeneral.com/, or their careers page: https://careers.domesticandgeneral.com/.
Connect with Hannah
You can connect with Hannah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-kershaw-421b7b25/.
