UK lags behind on women in the boardroom – but a new everywoman
campaign seeks to redress balance
In the past year, Britain dropped below most major European economies in female representation in the boardroom, ranking 10th of 17 countries, and is the fourth worst when counting companies with no women at all on their boards.
However, there are signs that things are changing. Niamh Whooley, one of the authors of the report, by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, said: "There is a lot of activity taking place in the UK on the ground, and I would expect to see a lot of change coming through.”
Things are already moving forward. This week, everywoman, the UK’s largest female business community, partnered with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) on its Real-Life Entrepreneurs campaign. The campaign aims to put in place measures to tackle the everyday challenges entrepreneurs face, and to showcase entrepreneurs across the business spectrum.
everywoman has joined the campaign to encourage more women entrepreneurs to start and lead businesses. Together, both groups want the Government to establish a target to accelerate the number of women running businesses by 100,000 over the next 10 years. In the UK, 150,000 start-ups would be created per year if women started businesses at the same rate as men.
Emma Elston, who as owner of UK Container Maintenance Limited is both one of the 2010 NatWest everywoman Award winners and the FSB’s Real-Life Entrepreneurs, told Business Sense: “When I was at school the thought of running my own business had never occurred to me and I didn’t know many women that were entrepreneurs. That’s why I think it’s so important that female role models actually go into schools to mentor young women.”
The campaign also provides know-how in the biggest challenges for small businessesfrom finance to cash-flow, tax and regulation. As well as a focus on encouraging more women, the FSB’s campaign also spotlights, young people, the over-50s, those with disabilities, ex-armed forces personnel and those who are currently living on benefits – all rich resources currently untapped by the UK economy.
Maxine Benson, co-founder of everywoman, says: “The Real-Life Entrepreneurs campaign is a force for good in overcoming barriers to setting-up a business. We know through work with our members, challenging and changing mindsets is the key to supporting women to achieve in business. By addressing the business issues and providing real-life role-models, the campaign is balancing the practical and inspirational.”
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