Rhubarb 2017

ST EDWARD’S r h u b a r b

3

F E A T U R E S

The Girls’ Hockey Team of 1988

You are a member of the 2 Percent Club in London, part of a national network of females in business.When did you first become involved with the organisation? I met with the founder of 2 Percent Club in 2011 as she was looking to extend to Scotland. I was asked by my then CEO and the founder to act as Chair in the Scottish arm of the organisation and it was a great opportunity to develop a commercial network based around gender to bring together senior women across the

Do you have any advice for pupils and young OSE who want to work within the financial sector? Financial services is changing significantly, and it is not the industry I joined and that many OSE reading will remember. It is focused on solving the needs of the customer irrespective of size and complexity, and it serves a key role in the economy and is increasingly returning to community roots. There are multiple avenues to take in financial services - I would recommend not specialising too quickly. Do your research. Do not get tempted by flash headlines. It is a broad offering of careers from IT to risk to commercial banking. If possible, join a graduate programme or apprenticeship as both offer a great breadth of experience, training and structured support in the early years of a career.

professional services to discuss topics of the day. When I returned to London in 2013 I moved to the London branch and remain involved to this day. How do you see your role in relation to gender equality? I am an advocate both in work and in the professional community for the development and growth of balanced businesses which is not only about gender equality, but about inclusion across the agenda. RBS now has 30% of senior roles occupied by women, and I have played a part in this. However, it is not down to one person, but educating a wider system. I do not believe in quotas, but they are key to measuring progress.