FEATURE
FEATURE
INSPIRING WOMEN
inspiring women
In the wake of International Women’s Day ALESSANDRO CARRARA sought out some of the UK’s
most inspiring and influential businesswomen and jewellery designers. They told him of their successes and
explained the challenges women still face in the industry
ANNA BLACKBURN
Managing director, Beaverbrooks
In January Anna was promoted
to the board of directors at
Beaverbrooks, taking on the new
role of managing director.
How will your role change now
that you have been promoted to
managing director?
Becoming the second ever non-
family member to join the board of
this 99-year-old family business is
1998 - Present:
a really big deal – both personally
Beaverbrooks
and for the company. I’ve been
Beaverbrooks’ CEO since 2013, so day to day my role won’t
change significantly. What will is the level of legal responsibility
that comes with the new role and solidifying the partnership
between myself and our chairman, Mark Adlestone.
How would you describe your leadership style?
I would definitely describe it as being very collaborative, as I
believe in getting the right people in the room and hearing and
listening to different opinions. The company benefits massively
from a ‘joined up’ approach.
What challenges do women face in the industry?
I can only really talk about Beaverbrooks because that’s been
my 20 years’ experience in the jewellery industry (Anna joined
the business as a graduate trainee in 1998). In terms of how I
have seen our business change over the last 20 years, our senior
management team is 40% female, whereas there used to be only
two women on that team.
Gender seems to be the key talking point, but actually I
passionately believe that if the opportunities are there it is
absolutely about the right person for the job. Would I want the
senior management team to reach 50% women? If they were
the right people for the job, then yes.
April 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk
Beaverbrooks has just had its three most profitable years in its
history, how was this achieved?
It’s about collaboration and clarity, and a simple focused
strategy that is communicated well. The company’s commitment
to internal training and promotion also plays a big part. At
Beaverbrooks when somebody is performing well we recognise
and reward them and like to promote from within. Our senior
executive team have worked their way up through the business
- there aren’t many businesses who can say that about their
executive team.
Beaver