to talk openly.”
Haf Cennydd, MD of GovNet Exhibitions,
reflected on a gender-based incident early in
her career that threatened to impact on her
ability to bond with male colleagues, saying: “I
remember someone asking me if I’d slept with
my boss to get my job, because we got on.
“That really, genuinely upset me; it hit me
like a hammer that someone would think I
was in that position for that reason. It almost
made me want to pull back from building
relationships with my male colleagues. But then
I thought ‘sod this, I’m here because I’m good,
I’m not here because I’m a female’.
“I’ve seen a huge change in the industry,
compared to how I was treated as a junior by
some very senior men, who should have known
better. I haven’t witnessed those kinds of
behaviours in the last five to 10 years. They still
exist, but there are also women who behave in
those ways. If we’re all aware of unconscious
bias then it makes life a lot easier. I don’t feel
today there’s such a stigma attached to whether
26
UFI – Women in the
industry survey
82% love the
industry
69% love
their job
52% did not feel equally treated to
male colleagues when it came to
career opportunities
49% agree with
the principle of
‘female quotas’
61% said their
employer actively
supports women
in leadership roles
53% did not feel equally treated to
male colleagues when it came to salary
February 2019 | exhibitionnews.co.uk
“You have to have the
right support systems in
place to allow women
to rise to the top”
– Julie Harris
you’re a male or female in a role.”
Lydia Matthews, group head of content at
ITE Group, agreed: “There are personality
traits that get people to where they are,
whether they’re male or female. With younger
women in the business they’re already coming
into the business with a different viewpoint
– it’s how you take them and coach them
through that journey. I think the male/female
divide is a conversation, but it becomes more
and more down to the individual and how you
can develop people”
Ruth Carter, MD of Telegraph Events,
recalled learning the offside rule to enable her
to participate in conversations in meetings
where she was the only woman, adding:
“The flip side now is that if you listen to
the conversations you’re having around
the boardroom, or with your teams, the
conversation has gone the other way, It’s not
about revenge or retribution, it’s about balance.
“The gender pay gap at Telegraph Events
is pretty damn good, but one of the big
challenges I’m seeing, because we’re quite
female dominated, is that if you had a chap
that put up a girly calendar we’d be on him in
a shot, but I had a lady put up a chippendales-
style calendar and she was really surprised
when I asked her to take it down.”
A strong theme that emerged from the
discussion was finding a balance in the
workplace and in the wider industry. While
sales might be a role typically filled by men,
and which should be aiming to being more
women into the fold, the inverse is true with
the historically female ops roles.
The topic of balance led on to a discussion
around quotas – always a subject which
prompts strong reactions. The research by
international exhibition association UFI on
women in the industry found that an intriguing
49 per cent of respondents (who were
predominantly but not entirely female) were in
favour of female quotas for boards.
Naomi Barton, portfolio director – Revo
Media at Clarion commented: Three of us in
this room were lucky enough to be part of a
company [Ascential] that for the FTSE 350
had the top percentage of women on boards,
and that was a really strong agenda that they
pushed.”
In 2016, Ascential took part in the
Hampton-Alexander review, which aimed to
see British business drive to improve further
the number of women in senior leadership
positions.
The review had a stated aim that a third of
all FTSE 100 leadership roles to be occupied
by women by the end of 2020, up from 25 per
cent in 2016. Ascential was highlighted in the
November 2016 review as ‘leading the way’,
with 57.1 per cent women on its plc board, the
highest at the time in the FTSE 350.
“Some of the environments I’ve been in
have been very inclusive, very focused on that
diversity and inclusion piece and in the last
few years there have been huge leaps forward,”
continued Barton.
Emily Challis, portfolio event manager at
Fresh Montgomery, commented: “If quotas
can help get you to a balanced place then that
is a good thing. I don’t think the principle of a
quota is a good thing – to be putting women on
a board just to have women on a board – but if
that’s what it needs and there’s no other way to
get women to the table, then I think quotas are
the right thing to do.”
Upper Street Events CEO Julie Harris added:
“I’m all for balance, and it is important to
make sure we don’t go the other way. My
approach is mentoring and support, as opposed
to slamming the table.
“You have to have the right support systems
in place to allow women to rise to the top. I sit
on three boards and I would hate to think that
I’m on those boards because I’m a woman, and
that I’m a quota. It’s not my experience on any
boards I have been on that the men who are
there are there due to nepotism.