WOMEN BUSINESS
CELEBRATE | ENCOURAGE | INSPIRE Awards focus on leadership and inclusion
Winners from a record number of entries were revealed at the 2018 Women in Business Awards, held at Oakley Hall, Basingstoke, in October. Guest speaker Chris Stylianou, chief operating officer for Sky UK and Ireland, gave a thought-provoking insight into his company’s journey towards gender parity
Generous donations from guests during the evening raised £2,671.50 for Smart Works, the award-winning charity that provides high- quality interview clothing, styling, advice and interview training to women in need.
In the past five years, Smart Works has arranged 15,000 appointments at its centres around the UK. In the past year, over 60% of the women it saw went on to get a job within a month of their visit.
Sky insights on gender equality
A little less conversation, a little more action was the takeaway message on gender equality from guest speaker Chris Stylianou, chief operating officer for Sky UK and Ireland.
Stylianou is one of the Women’s Business Council’s male agents of change. Initiatives he has introduced at Sky include leadership programmes for women and changes in recruitment processes.
The 2018 Women in Business Awards was a bigger-than-ever celebration of women’s achievements in the region. The focus for the Women in Business network this year has been leadership and inclusion.
Tamsin Napier-Munn, women in business manager at The Business Magazine and Women in Business Awards organiser, welcomed 280 guests for the annual awards. She said: “We have some truly exceptional people and businesses in the room tonight, from some of the biggest companies in the UK to some of the fastest growing and most innovative SMEs in the region.”
Barclays was the Awards’ headline sponsor. The other sponsors were Blake Morgan, KPMG, Hitachi Capital (UK), Thomas International and Westcoast. The sponsors formed the judging panel for the awards, which this year included a new category – Start-up of the Year – to recognise female entrepreneurial business owners.
Vikki Hemming, relationship director at Barclays, thanked all of the sponsors for the huge amount of work involved in the judging process. “We have celebrated and recognised the achievements of so many people. The finalists should be immensely proud to represent their industries. Thank you to the men who are here tonight for your support, but I have to say we do hope to outnumber you in boardrooms some time,” she said.
“The Awards provide a wonderful opportunity not only to celebrate exceptional achievement but also to share ideas and knowledge and grow local business together,” Hemming added.
“We know women are equally as capable as men, and that gender balance leads to a better culture and better innovation,” said Stylianou. “It is simply the right thing to do to ensure women have equal opportunities.”
In 2014 he helped set up Sky’s Women in Leadership programme.
Changing the status quo is one of Stylianou’s priorities for Sky in areas like letting people manage their work/life balance to help with childcare and elder care. “At Sky, we manage people on output not presenteeism. I believe it’s time to realise the days of the ‘9 to 5’ are rightly over,” he said.
He encouraged the audience to stop talking about gender equality and start taking action. “There are many barriers and no quick fixes, we know this. That means we need to put in much more effort, but I’m convinced it will be worth it for all of us,” he said. “The sooner we start taking action, the sooner we will fix the problem.”
HEADLINE SPONSOR: SPONSORS: Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC 38
businessmag.co.uk THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
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