Who runs the world….girls
This weekend marks International Women’s Day (8 March) and Yorkshire is home to some amazing women. Whether they’re entrepreneurs, leaders, educators, creatives, all, or none of the above we at TheBusinessDesk.com believe it’s important to recognise their contributions to our society and highlight them to inspire the next generation and in this writer’s case my own daughters.
So, we’ve pulled together this round up of stories we’ve received related to International Women’s Day.
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Wakefield Hospice is celebrating International Women’s day with a tribute to the brainchild of a group of eight nursing sisters approaching retirement who decided their area needed a hospice.
A public meeting in November 1982 the eight friends, who’d trained together told attendees about their dream to build a hospice for the people of Wakefield. Estimating it would cost around £10,000.
The actual cost to build the hospice was £920,000 with an additional £60,000 to furnish it. In addition, the annual running costs, when it opened in 1990, were £450,000.
By the time the hospice opened, four of the eight nurses were still involved and continued to support the hospice actively in the early years. Known affectionately as the ‘fab four’ their work is mirrored by another ‘fab four’; the women at the helm of the hospice today, who carry the same values of being professional, caring and aspirational.
They include Chief Executive Officer, Tina Turner who joined in 2016, Alison Harwood, Director of Clinical Services who joined in 2015, Dr Anne-Marie Seymour, Medical Director who joined in 1996 and Director of Income Generation, Helen Knowles who has been with the hospice since she joined as a volunteer over thirty years ago.
In honour of its 30th anniversary the hospice has launched a new logo, which depicts a tree with eight leaves, refers to the eight nursing sisters who ‘planted the seed’ of building a hospice in Wakefield and who helped it ‘grow’ into an outstanding facility for local people.
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Doncaster Sheffield Airport has announced the appointment of Dee Thomas as its new Director of Operations. As we approach International Women’s Day #eachforequal campaign, Dee is a key senior appointment for the airport which is keen to encourage more women to work in aviation.
Robert Hough CBE, chairman of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, said: “We are delighted to welcome Dee to the team, where she will oversee operations including sustainability, compliance, passenger services and terminal operations. She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the position and is already delivering great results. Dee is a positive role model in our drive to encourage more women to consider a career in aviation.”
Doncaster Sheffield Airport is already committed to gender equality and diversity and since signing the Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter in 2019 now has 35% of senior roles at the airport held by women, compared to 27% when the charter was signed.
DSA is also working closely with local schools as part of its Bright Futures school engagement programme to highlight the number and wide range of roles available in aviation and at the airport and encouraging young people to consider it as a career choice offering skilled and non-traditional roles for women.
Dee Thomas, Director of Operations at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, said: “.DSA has impressed me with its commitment to encouraging more women to work in the aviation industry and I am very proud to support its drive to encourage more females to consider this as a career option.”
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Leeds-based global manufacturer, Stephenson is celebrating the growing number of female employees and its first female board director in its 164 years, Lisa Flannery as finance director.
The manufacturing business which specialises in soap production for clients including The Body Shop, has seen an increase of 24% in female employees since 2017. In particular the number of female staff team leaders has trebled over the three-year period.
Jamie Bentley, CEO of Stephenson commented: “The manufacturing sector is traditionally heavily male-dominated but as a progressive, forward-thinking and inclusive business we want to make sure we have the best people in position performing to the best of their abilities, contributing to our ongoing success as a global manufacturing business.
“We remain fully committed to workplace equality and have seen the number of women across our business steadily increasing over the past few years in all areas ranging from quality control and the technical division to warehousing and factory operations.”
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Hunters, one of the country’s leading estate agents, has released its gender balance employment figures for the first time as CEO, Glynis Frew, praises the industry’s embracing of diversity.
The figures show across its 200+ branches, the York-headquartered firm has over 680 fully accredited staff members across the network, with just over 60% being women. The firm also has an almost equal gender split when it comes to directors and heads of department.
CEO of Hunters, Glynis Frew, commented: “It is great to see industry female representation continue to grow and we’re proud that Hunters, along with many others in property, have been encouraging it for some time now. More and more women entering the industry can only be a good thing but we must not forget that the value of the contribution to our fantastic industry is not gender-dependent.”
