UK Edition
Just who are the 7 women bosses of the FTSE 100?
This week, it was announced that Emma Walmsley is to join the ranks of the seven per cent. That’s the seven current women CEOs of FTSE 100 companies.
Walmsley has has been named as successor to Sir Andrew Witty at British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline and will take the reins when he retires on March 31, 2017.
It's a step in the right direction and to be applauded. But, the fact remains: there are still only seven women out of 100 bosses heading up companies on the London Stock Exchange.
Lord Davies's target of 30 per cent of women on boards is slowly being met - with more than 25 per cent now in place (a number that has doubled since his initial report in 2012). But there are still twice as many men named John who are CEOs or chairmen of FTSE 100 companies as there are women of all names.
Walmsley joins such business brains as Carolyn McCall of Easyjet. But who are the other women in the FTSE 100?
Be honest. Can you name them? Let alone explain what they do and how they got there. Here's our cheat's guide.
Emma Walmsley, 46, GSK
Who?
Currently boss of GSK's Consumer Healthcare division, Walmsley will join the board on January 1 2017 and take the helm from the end of March – making her the seventh female boss in the FTSE 100.
Walmsley is a brand expert with two decades of experience in luxury and consumer goods. She joined GSK in 2010 from French cosmetics group L’Oreal, following a networking lunch with Sir Andrew Witty (who she is now replacing).
“An inspiring conversation ended up spiralling into a job offer alarmingly fast,” she recalled shortly after. “I spent a week persuading myself I would be insane to do it.”
The 47-year-old Oxford classics graduate has four children with husband David and the family has lived all over the world, from New York to Shanghai.
In an article for the website Lean In, she addressed the challenges of parenting as a woman in business, writing of her kids: “They’re proud of their Mum and although she’s on a plane a lot, she makes as many school plays, matches and parent evenings as she can.”
In the same piece, she also addressed her concerns surrounding the move from L’Oreal to GSK; worrying it was ‘too risky’ and how she asked herself “am I qualified?”
She says
“I’m starting to be convinced I have a right to be at the top table in business.”
Alison Brittain, 51, Whitbread
Who?
Brittain is one of the UK’s leading bankers and was a surprise choice to succeed succeeded Andy Harrison as CEO of the Whitbread group - which owns brands such as Costa Coffee and Premier Inns. But in January 2016, she became the sixth female chief executive on the FTSE 100.
The straight-talking Manchester United fan hails from Derbyshire. She went to the University of Stirling to read business studies and has an MBA from Cambridge University’s Judge Institute. She fancied a career in marketing, but ended up joining Barclays graduate trainee scheme – her first job was as a cashier in its Enfield branch. She stayed with the bank for two decades and even met her husband, Kevin, at the Baker Street branch.
The pair have two school-age children, and Brittain has previously spoken out about combining working in the City with motherhood. In a 2014 interview, she said: "I have a male colleague with kids exactly the same age as mine and no one asks whether he can balance."
She’s also tackled the wider issues facing women aiming for the C-suite and once complained that colleagues "even now, try to talk over me".
In 2012, she told the Guardian: "I did a decade in commercial banking… There were no women. If you were a woman you stood out. You do have to find a way of being noticed and being heard."
She says
“Where are the chief executives of the future going to come from when 38-to-48-year olds are missing from the full-time workforce.”
Veronique Laury, 51, Kingfisher
Who?
Laury became head of Kingfisher, the owner of B&Q and the biggest home improvements retailer in Europe, in January 2015 - taking over from Sir Ian Cheshire.
The former showjumper and keen horserider, had worked in DIY for 26 years. Yet, she was relatively unknown in the executive world.
After studying law and politics in Paris, she decided to jettison her hopes of a political career and joined a French home improvements retailer in 1988, managing the lighting and tiling departments of a large shop in northern France.
She went to work for Kingfisher in 2003 as product director, working her way up to commercial director of B&Q in 2010 and coming to the UK.
She moved back to France with her family (she has three children), in 2012 and in 2013, joined the Kingfisher executive board.
Laury also has a personal taste for home improvement and cites painting as one of her favourite hobbies – she has renovated two houses in France, and is based in Lille.
She says
“I have not done it differently from a man. I have just worked, been passionate about what I have been doing, been true to my convictions.”
Alison Cooper, 50, Imperial Tobacco
Who?
Head of a £26 billion company; the fourth largest tobacco business in the world. Cooper famously, smokes cigars and drinks Guinness.
A Surrey grammar school girl, she studied mathematics and statistics at Bristol University (where she met her husband) and spent a gap year volunteering in Kenya.
She joined Imperial Tobacco in 1999 as group finance manager, after a spell working in acquisitions, and rose through the ranks to become CEO in 2010, at the age of 44.
Cooper is known for her brilliant memory, her no nonsense approach, Porsche Carrera and love of singing – she has taken lessons. She has two daughters.
In 2013, Cooper was voted one of the UK’s most powerful women by BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.
She says
"I had canapés at Buckingham Palace the other night and still had my pasty at Paddington on the way home.”
Liv Garfield, 41, Severn Trent
Who?
The youngest female boss in the Footsie. Garfield is renowned for her determination and fast-paced work ethic.
The Cambridge graduate and Everton football club fan (her parents are Liverpudlian) was raised in Harrogate. After graduation, she worked for the British Consulate in Brussels, before joining Accenture as a consultant.
In 2003, she started working for BT as a general manager, eventually working her way up to oversee their £2.5 billion project to provide broadband to two thirds of UK homes.
Garfield was appointed CEO of the Severn Trent water company (which has 4m customers) in April 2014, becoming the fourth female FTSE 100 boss on a basic salary of £650,000. She has been named one of the top 10 ‘global hot shots’ by Fortune and is also a non-executive director of Tesco.
Garfield met her husband, property investor Morgan Garfield, at university and the couple have two sons. She has admitted to buying a sports car when pregnant – a mistake, as she couldn’t fit into it.
She says
“I don’t like people who are late. I’m very timely. Or people who faff, I’m quite decisive.”
Carolyn McCall, 55, Easyjet
Who?
The Indian-born only child of British expat parents is known for her pragmatic approach. She came to the UK in her late teens, sitting her A-levels a Catholic boarding school and studying for a History BA at the University of Kent, Canterbury, where she met her husband.
After a year working as a teacher in West London comprehensive, McCall did a Masters in politics and joined The Guardian as a research planner in 1986. She rose through the ranks of advertising sales, where she gained a reputation for being tough.
She was appointed CEO in 2006.
In March 2010, McCall was made CEO of Easyjet, becoming the third female CEO of a FTSE 100 company. She’s credited with modernising the company – hiring more pilots to improve punctuality and scrapping the widely criticised unallocated seating system (a job for which she is currently paid about £5 million).
McCall was awarded an OBE for services to women in business in June 2008 and in 2014 she was made a UK Business Ambassador by David Cameron, as well as becoming a non-executive at Burberry.
She lives in Berkhamstead with her husband and their three children.
She says
“Work was never a factor in my decision to have kids. There’s never a right time to have kids, but if you want to make it work, that’s what you do.”
Moya Greene, 62, Royal Mail
Who?
A Canadian – the first female and non-British CEO at Royal Mail. She’s widely credited as being the person who turned its failing fortunes around and prepared it for floatation on the London Stock Exchange.
Greene was raised in Newfoundland and attended law school in Toronto. She has had a wide and varied career, including a spell as an immigration adjudicator, Assistant Deputy Minister for Transport Canada and CEO of Canadian Post, where she trebled profits.
In 2003, she was named one of the 100 most influential women in the country.
She was named CEO of Royal Mail in 2010. At the time, Greene was the highest paid UK civil servant (earning £500,000 before bonuses – although she hasn’t taken a basic pay increase since and was called the lowest paid chief executive in the FTSE 100).
In 2013, she repaid a £120,000 ‘perk’ that she had used to help buy a house, at the request of Business Secretary Vince Cable .
In 2014, Greene – who has a grown-up daughter from her first marriage (she’s now married to a British doctor) – was named Financial Times person of the year.
She says
“If you don’t love the company and the people – really love them – you can’t do a job like this.”