Leading accountant asks where have Yorkshire's women gone?

A Yorkshire woman’s place is not in the boardroom it would seem, as findings from leading accountants and business advisers BDO reveal that last year the proportion of women on Yorkshire’s top 150 boards dropped by a massive 16 per cent.

Findings in the Yorkshire Report 2008 show that the Female FTSE reported a gradual, if uneven, national trend towards more women in UK boardrooms; the number dipped slightly to 117 in 2006 but recovered to a new high of 123 in 2007. Whilst that’s hardly an invasion (women still account for barely 10 per cent of the total directorships available) it was a step in the right direction  - a step that the Yorkshire region is not taking.

Ian Beaumont, managing partner of BDO, based at Bridgewater Place in Leeds, said: “Yorkshire has always had a reputation for going its own way but it is disappointing to learn that, at a time when many companies are seeking to demonstrate their corporate responsibility by embracing diversity in the workplace, the top 150 are turning their back on a major pool of talent and ideas. Yorkshire has the second lowest ratio of women on the board among 12 UK regions, highlighting the fact that this is a major problem and one that needs addressing.”

The Leeds office of BDO is in a similar predicament to many of it’s Yorkshire counterparts, with no female partners amongst the current number of 15. However, even though accountancy is a typically male dominated industry, this is something that the team is striving to rectify, and The Times voted the company as one of the top 150 companies women want to work in for in 2007. The firm is working closely with female directors and managers and is actively encouraging training and development in order for them to reach partner level.

This year BDO has also seen an increase in the number of female graduates applying for positions, which the team hope will enable them to grow and nurture talent at a grassroots level for the future.

Ian added: “Our vision is that many of our managers and directors will soon be knocking on the boardroom door, and longer term we look forward to seeing our female graduates develop and hopefully succeed to partner level in years to come.”

Yorkshire’s companies may soon be forced to make radical changes to the diversity of their boardrooms as the Equalities Bill is starting its journey through Parliament to become law and may cause the notorious glass ceiling to crack in some organisations.

Elizabeth Jackson, CEO of The Directorbank Group, an experienced corporate financier and one of the region’s high profile female board directors, believes that the reasons behind the lack of women on the board are complicated.

She said: “I don't think Yorkshire is significantly different from the rest of the country; I genuinely don't think there is a glass ceiling any more and the region has a good mix of business types and sectors, so I think the reasons are quite complex.
 
"The Directorbank Group is a unique executive and non–executive recruitment business, and we have a register of nearly 3,000 of the country's most successful directors keen to get into private equity.  Although we have around 100 women on this register, we would love to have more and there are the same opportunities for women as men.  Employers are offering women choices - but you can't force them to take them.  In the end I guess a lot of this comes down to combining careers and bringing up children."

Some business experts have also suggested that companies may have stopped focusing on women in their drive to meet targets on recruiting members of ethnic minorities, and figures demonstrating the lack of women in boardrooms across the UK indicate that potentially many firms are not dealing with the ‘glass ceiling’.

Looking ahead, Ian Beaumont commented: “At BDO we firmly believe that a woman’s place can be in the boardroom and we have taken steps to ensure women have a strong presence throughout the company at all levels. Yorkshire’s boardrooms are missing out on a wealth of opportunities that women offer and it will be interesting to see what impact the Equalities Bill has on the make-up of the region’s boardrooms.”

The Yorkshire Report is an economic health barometer of the region and features findings based on the top 150 companies. Copies of the Yorkshire Report are available by e-mailing yorkshirereport@bdo.co.uk.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:
Terry Gilligan/Sandrine Powell,
Ptarmigan Consultants,
Tel: 0113 242 1155
E-Mail: terry@ptarmiganpr.co.uk / sandrine@ptarmiganpr.co.uk

Notes to editors:
BDO LLP operates across the UK with over 3,000 partners and staff. BDO LLP is a UK limited liability partnership and the UK Member Firm of BDO International. BDO International is a world-wide network of public accounting firms, called BDO Member Firms, serving international clients. Each BDO Member Firm is an independent legal entity in its own country. The Belfast Firm is operated by a separate Partnership.

BDO LLP and BDO - Belfast are both authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority to conduct investment business.

BDO is an award-winning firm.  Recent achievements include:

• 100 Best Companies to Work For - The Sunday Times 2008
• Business Superbrand - Business Superbrands 2008
• Best Workplace UK - Financial Times 2008
• Top 50 Where Women Want to Work - The Times 2007
• Employer of the Year - Accountancy Age Awards 2007
• Global Firm of the Year - Accountancy Age Awards 2006

The Directorbank Group
Directorbank is a unique executive and non-executive recruitment business and holds a market leading niche in the private equity sector.  Nearly 3,000 of the UK’s most successful directors who want to take part in private equity deals are registered with the business.  Directorbank is retained by more than 80 leading private equity houses in the UK and Europe and they have constant access to these directors.  Due to the quality of this register, Directorbank has become the UK’s fastest growing provider of executive directors, non-executive directors and interims to corporate entities undergoing change or transition. In May this year Directorbank acquired prestigious Hanson Green, the UK’s leader in corporate non-executive appointments.
www.directorbank.com