South: Women in Business Awards focuses on leadership and inclusion
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, at last night’s Women in Business Awards.
Stylianou is one of the Women’s Business Council’s male agents of change, he gave a personal and compelling talk to 280 guests about his efforts to achieve gender parity in Sky’s senior leadership team by 2020.
Initiatives he has introduced at Sky include leadership programmes for women, changes in recruitment processes, and measuring employees on output rather than presenteeism.
“We know women are equally as capable as men, that gender balance leads to better culture and better innovation,” said Stylianou. “It is simply the right thing to do to ensure women have equal opportunities. Now is the time to accept we each own that responsibility instead of passing the blame on to others or placing it on factors outside our control.”
The Awards were held at Oakley Hall, Basingstoke. Finalists were chosen from a record number of entries judged by the sponsors.
Barclays was the Awards’ headline sponsor. The other sponsors were Blake Morgan, KPMG, Hitachi Capital (UK), Thomas International and Westcoast.
A new award category – Start-up of the Year – recognised female entrepreneurial business owners.
Generous donations from guests 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 last 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.
And the winners are…
Rising Star
Winner
Amy Golding, Opus Talent Solutions
Highly commended:
Aduke Onafowokan, Thrive Consulting
Finalists:
Sarah Hitchcox, Anesco
Gemma Hood, Volume
Alexandra Rijnoveanu, Microsoft
Nina Smith, Shoosmiths
Enlightened Employer
Winner: Sky
Highly commended:
Get Ahead VA
Finalists:
KPMG
Moorcrofts
Shoosmiths
Champion of Change
Joint winners:
Sadie Groom, Bubble Agency
Emma Illingworth, SSE Retail
Finalists:
Nicki Aitken, HPE Pointnext
Kaz Mortimer, Shorfield Holidays
Kate Vandenberg, Sky
Paul Barry-Walsh, Fredericks Foundation
Woman Business Owners of the Year
Winner:
Lauren Atkins, The Malins Group
Finalists:
Stephanie Hall, Uptake Strategies
Rebecca Newenham, Get Ahead VA
Jo Randall, St Magnus Hospital
Leena Sankla, Solutions 4 Health
Board Level and Senior Executive of the Year
Winner:
Dr Sarah Cooper, CLEAN
Finalists:
Teri Hunter, Moorcrofts
Jaki Mitchell, Crowe
Start-up of the Year
Winner:
Joy Foster, TechPixies
Finalists:
Jane Arthern, FMCGenie
Sarah Jordan, Y.O.U underwear
Suzy Olivier, Mothers of Enterprise
Spotlight on Women in STEM
Winner:
Dr Claire Donoghue, 3M
Finalists:
Jackie Doherty, Monodraught
Emma Friendship-Kilburn, Emm-Power
Gemma Hood, Volume
Karin Meurk-Harvey, Vodafone Group Enterprise
Roni Savage, Jomas Associates
Katherine Spice, CV-Library
Role Model of the Year
Winner:
Pauline Murray, SSE Retail
Highly commended:
Rebecca McAllister, Savills
Finalists:
Luana Clapis, Mintec
Gemma Hood, Volume
Kate Lester, Diamond logistics
Michelle McLeish, SSE Retail
Laura-Jane (LJ) Turner, Centerprise International
