Having been a previous guest speaker at the Coutts Family Business Forum, it was rather nice being invited to sit, relax and listen to other family business owners and their stories this week. The evening was in a fabulous setting in Plumtree, Nottingham, at the Carriage Hall.
It’s always fascinating to hear the debate about whether a family business all about the ‘business’ or about protecting the ‘family’ – we certainly heard arguments on both sides and most importantly it’s what the ‘next generation’ family business owners need to understand for their own businesses.
Our guest speaker at this event was David Baldwin from Baldwins Accountants. David works closely with his father and talked openly about his vision for the family firm and it’s growth through acquisitions.
During a presentation yesterday I heard a chap say something a lot of female execs already know… a board that includes a woman (or women) will result in that organisation being on average 8% more profitable!
After a quick bit of digging round I also found confirmation (from Harvard no less) that female directors are proven to be far better at corporate governance and when a board is inclusive of women the company outperforms it’s competitors. One of the many articles can be found on the Harvard website. It’s a fact that male directors raise their game when sitting on boards with women – surely a win/win situation then? The Times also reported that women help businesses to succeed.
It makes perfect sense to diversify and at the very least have a female non executive – great governance and a better bottom line too!
I have to say, I’ve noticed a few more of my male colleagues telling me that they ought to add a female non exec recently. If you are considering this, I’d be happy to discuss non executive opportunities further – drop me a line. Coming out of recession shows we need to have trusted board members, effective and committed executives and the best possible chance of success – women can help. An article in the Telegraph also talks about women in the boardroom.
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