Garrett-Cox calls on government to help new mothers return to work
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Version 0 of 1. Katherine Garrett-Cox, winner of the 2015 Veuve Clicquot Business Woman award, has called on the government to make it easier for women to return to work after having children. Garrett-Cox, who heads the Alliance Trust investment firm and is one of the most high-profile women in the City, said the Conservatives should continue the work of the last two governments to get more women on company boards. However, she said it was equally important to increase the number of top female managers and for this to happen women needed to be able to return to work after maternity leave. Garrett-Cox said: “Governments can do more. The reality at the moment is that for a lot of women it doesn’t make financial sense for them to come back to work because childcare is incredibly expensive.” She advocated more extensive tax credits for childcare. She said one of the first things she did when she took over at Alliance Trust in 2008 was to revamp its maternity leave policy to make it more attractive for women to come back after pregnancy. Before women have children, their employment rate is roughly the same as men’s at 76% but only 60% of women with children aged four or less are employed, compared with 90% for men, figures from the most recent labour force survey show. Speaking before Sajid Javid was appointed business secretary, Garrett-Cox said the new government should build on the effort started under Labour and continued by Vince Cable to get more women into senior positions. The most recent report by Lord Mervyn Davies showed Britain’s top 100 companies were only 17 appointments short of hitting his target for 25% female board representation by the end of this year. “It’s pretty early days but I would say continue the good work. Aggressive targets were set and on the face of it we won’t be a million miles away from getting the representation we wanted by 2015. Don’t stop there. It’s about making sure organisations are doing it at executive team level as well as at boardroom level.” Garrett-Cox won the 43rd annual Veuve Clicquot award against competition from Julia Peyton-Jones, the co-director of Serpentine Galleries, and Justine Roberts, the chief executive of Mumsnet. Last year’s winner was Harriet Green, who was the chief executive of Thomas Cook before being ousted last November. Garrett-Cox said she was unperturbed by what happened to Green and the fates of some other winners. “Business is an environment where people do different things in their careers. For me it’s something I’m incredibly delighted to receive,” she said. The award comes at the end of a gruelling period for Garrett-Cox. She and her fellow directors at Alliance Trust were forced to compromise with a US hedge fund that had criticised her performance and pay after its demands for board representation were initially dismissed. She said: “We had a lot of media attention. Having said that, there is no doubt more people know about Alliance Trust and what we stand for. Standing up for what you believe in is important as a corporate and as an individual.” Past winners 2014 Harriet Green, chief executive of Thomas Cook 2013 Dame Zaha Hadid, founder of Zaha Hadid Architects 2012 Anya Hindmarch, founder of handbag designer Anya Hindmarch 2011 Michelle McDowell, chair of BDP civil and structural engineering 2010 Laura Tenison, founder and managing director, childrenswear chain JoJo Maman Bebe |