A mother-of-nine who runs a City investment firm said today she wants to “change history” for women struggling to combine a career and family life.
Helena Morrissey, chief executive of Newton Investment Management, said her campaign to have at least 30 per cent of boardrooms filled with women was bearing fruit — and that she wanted the struggle for more equal representation at the top to “go global”.
Mrs Morrissey was speaking before tonight’s Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award, which sees the finance chief on a shortlist that includes fashion designer Anya Hinchmarch and River Café owner Ruth Rogers.
Mrs Morrissey has managed to have nine children and climb the ranks from junior fund manager to running a company that looks after £50 billion of assets for pension funds, charities and individuals.
“I have nine children and I’ve seen first hand that it can be quite difficult to combine a career and motherhood,” she said. “I’d like to help other women, particularly those who decide to have a family that do want to have a fulfilled working life.”
Mrs Morrissey set up the 30 Percent Club two years ago. “It was obvious to me we weren’t seeing much progress in terms of numbers of women at senior levels,” she said. “The 30 Percent Club is a group of chairmen and companies committed to that target of 30 per cent women on their boards by 2015.
“We now not only have 41 chairmen signed up to support it but we are seeing real progress. We’re more than half way there — almost 16 per cent now, and I think it really is having an impact on how people are thinking about the issue of women in business.”
Mrs Morrissey, who was made a CBE in the New Year Honours list for services to business, said winning the award “would show you can combine a relatively successful career, a family life and do something to help other women”.
Judges at tonight’s awards ceremony at Claridge’s include e asyJet chief Carolyn McCall and Rothschild MD Sian Westerman. Past winners include Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick and publisher Dame Gail Rebuck.
