Employers Winning for Women

UK employers who have demonstrated the most commitment to and innovation in creating workplaces where women can succeed were honoured at the Opportunity Now awards dinner on Tuesday 24 April 2007. 

Women still experience huge inequality in the workplace and these awards recognise large employers from the private and public sectors who have made addressing inequality a business imperative. The awards were sponsored by Coutts and Co.

Listed below are the awards and winners. 

Case studies for all winning and finalist entries is available to download in the
Awards Case Studies Booklet 2007 (1402 kb)

Champion award
This special award for a senior leader who has made a significant contribution to advancing, promoting and embedding a diversity culture within a workplace goes to Betsy Nelson, Head of EMEA Corporate Banking at JPMorgan. She is recognised for her leadership and inspiration in promoting the women’s agenda within the firm.

Valerie Todd, Managing Director of Group Services at Transport for London was highly commended.

Female FTSE 100 award
This award goes to both AstraZeneca  and British Airways for their commitment to women leaders. Both companies have a board composition of approximately 30% women, the highest of any company in the FTSE 100.

Global award
This was presented to Lehman Brothers for its Encore programme which encourages and helps women to return to the labour market after an absence due to childcare or caring responsibilities.

City award
This award for a city institution goes to KPMG for its work on developing a culture which encourages flexible working.

Private sector award
This award goes to Britannia Building Society for its flexible working programme called Mutual Preferences.

Education sector award
This award was presented to the University of Sheffield for its Women Academic Returners’ Programme. The University of Sunderland was highly commended for its work in embedding gender equality and equal pay.

Public sector award
This was awarded to Brent Council for its commitment to developing senior women.

For more information on the winners please see the attached press release