2 Business Argus


‘Event will keep us ahead of the curve’


From page 1 featured Ken Segall,who named the iMac, Young Rewired StateCEOEmma Mulqueeny, and Sir Terry Matthews, among others. Chair of theWelsh


Government’s ICT Sector Panel, TomKelly, said: “The digital economy is hurtling forwards at light- ning pace. Economies all over the world have woken up to the enabling power of ICT and it’s crucial that Wales remains ahead of the curve. “Digital 2014 will help ensure a digital culture is positioned at the centre of Welsh education and industry to secure our eco- nomic future.” Welsh Government Minister for Economy, Edwina Hart, said: “The ICT industry inWales is a key sector that could gen- erate a further £1.5bn over the next five years. “Digital 2014 will provide


a platformfor ensuring businesses have the know- howto harness cutting- edge technologies.”


Contact us...


Editorial Jo Barnes Special features editor


Tel: 01633 777240 email: jo.barnes@ gwent-wales.co.uk


Advertising Graham Harris Senior Field Sales Executive


Tel: 01633 777135 email: graham.harris@ gwent-wales.co.uk


Samantha Taylor Media Consultant


Tel: 01633 777147 Email: Samantha.tay- lor@gwent-wales.co.uk


southwalesargus.co.uk/ business


By Jo Barnes 01633 777240 jba@gwent-wales.co.uk Twitter @SWABusiness


THErecent International Women’s Day sawthe pub- lishing of a number of reports on the continuing gender pay gap, the perceived glass ceiling and the need to get away from gender stereo- typing children from a young age. So Business Argus has been asking local businesspeople about their own sectors and howthe genders work togeth- er andwhether the prospects are the same for males and females.


Denise


Lovering, Commercial Director, Glenside


Commercials, Bedwas


I work in transportwhich is


a very male-dominated sec- tor. Although there are a few exceptions, the industry is dominated by men and Iam at a loss as to understand why this is. There are opportunities for


women. Traditionally, per- haps they would not want to become technicians but there are opportunities in custom- er services, after sales, areas where women do very well andwhich provide an excel- lent first step for those work- ing towards a career in transport. At a recent mock interview session at a local school, I was heartened to hear the aspirations of some of the girls I “interviewed”, though none of them had even con- sidered the transport sector. This school appears to work very hard to help its pupils get ready to face a life in work and this is key for the future I feel. For the roles I mentioned


we need literacy, numeracy, good conversational skills and the ability to work with- out supervision, business needs to work more closely with schools/colleges to make sure the skills that are needed in the workplace are being addressed by education providers.


Gareth Jones, director of Audere Medical Services Limited in Usk


Weservice


and validate medical decon- tamination equipment in NHSand Private hospitals throughout the UK. There is almost a 50/50 in the number of male and female managers we work with in the hospi- tals’ Sterile Services depart-


ments. However, the vast majority of engineerswho work for companies like Auderewho are responsible for undertaking the servic- ing, validation and mainte- nance work in these depart- ments are male.Wehave recently employed our first female engineerwho joins our team of 23 male engi- neers. When we recruit we advertise our vacancies across theUKand all the applicants are nearly always male.Women are equally as capable as men to provide the services Audere does but there aren’t any applying for the roles. It is disappointing, butwhen you hear in the news about the falling num- bers of female students pur- suing careers in engineering- related industries then it isn’t that surprising. Perceptions of industries like ours need to change and this should be done through education.


JohnNewell, director of Kingston Newell estate Agents in Newport


Inmyopin-


ion, men and women are treated equally in the estate agency industry and compete on a level playing field to pro- gress through the ranks. I don’t think there are any glass ceilings as everyone is


measured on the results they achieve and their customer- service skills. There are as many female owners and managers of estate agents as there are male and this has been the case for many years.


Dan Smith, director of M4 Property Consultants


Commercial property has been, and is still to this date, a male-domi- nated industry. However, this has been changing in recent years with the number of women entering the profes- sion definitely on the increase. Over time more and more women will reach the top of the profession and this will inspire others to follow in their footsteps. Personally, I see no reasonwhy women with the necessary qualifica- tions, skills and desire can- not succeed in the industry.


Kirsten Tuck,


Partner, Everett Tomlin Lloyd&Pratt


The legal pro- fession has tra- ditionally been male dominated and slowto embrace change, although the ratio has evened out con- siderably over the past 10 years or so and last year there were more new female


solicitors than men. At part- nership level, women remain in the minority and many firmshave set targets and quotas with a view to addressing this. I think that women with families would find it hard to progress in firmswhich encourage long working hours, and consider that promoting a good work/ life balance is a positive for all staff. Thosewho perform well and contribute to the business as awhole should shine through, and the key is to identify those people, regardless of gender, and provide them with opportu- nities and encouragement to progress.


Paul Byett, managing partner of UHYHacker Young char- tered account- ants


The accountancy industry


has a significant gender gap with only three of the top 50 firmshaving more than 25 per cent of female partners. Studies suggest that women make up just under 50 per cent of employees but under 20 per cent of equity part- ners. This situation is both baffling and surprising given our local experience.Weare proud to have two female equity partners out of five in total so we buck the trend substantially. Everyone is


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Tuesday, March 11, 2014 The big question...


treated equally within our mer- itocratic firmso any idea of glass ceilings is totally alien to us.


LukeWelsh, Employment LawSolicitors, Howells Solicitors


Although the


lack of women in senior posi- tions is a global issue, not just an issue in the UK, it still doesn’t cease to amazemehow much sexism goes on in our modern day society. CVs are already recommended to be stripped of information relat- ing to the applicant’s age, race and potential disabilities -–per- haps the next step is to ensure that CVs are de-sexualised.A further suggestion could be to make it a legal requirement that businesses have a certain percentage of females within their business, however it seems impractical to imple- ment further regulation, par- ticularly as we are only just recovering from the effects of the recession. One thing’s for certain – although we’ve devel- oped in leaps and bounds with battling sexism and glass ceil- ings in business in recent years, we still have a long way to go...


Gareth Morgan, direc- tor, Liberty Marketing


Weemploy a team of 30 digi- tal marketing specialists and have a 50/50 split in termsof women and men. Digital marketing is still in its infancy compared to other industries and doesn’t suffer with the sexist prejudic- es that some might still have. Wework with the students and course leaders at the local Universities and there is a very healthy mixture of men and women coming through the ranks. Both sexes are equally capable of producing great work.


Helen


Barry,Partner, Quality Solicitors Rubin Lewis O’Brien


Historically the


legal profession has been male dominated however over the last few years women have increasingly joined the profes- sion with 48 per cent of all solicitors being women. Since 2002 the number of women in the profession has increased by 77 per cent. This increase in women has meant that more women are becoming part of the senior management teams and flexible working is increas- ing. This is enabling women to break through the glass ceiling.


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