New gender diversity initiative launched

A new initiative has been launched to increase the number of women at senior levels and middle management across the energy sector.

The Energy Leader’s Coalition to improve gender diversity in the sector was launched today (22 May) in the House of Lords by the business secretary Greg Clark as new figures show half of all energy companies have no women on their boards.

The figures released on the eve of the POWERful Women’s Annual Conference in London also show that women only occupy 13 per cent of board seats in the sector, and only 6 per cent of executive board seats.

Speaking before the launch event, Clark said if companies fail to have diversity at the top of their business then “they are missing out on the full talent available to them”.

“While some energy companies have made progress to improve diversity in the boardroom, we need all companies in this sector to step up. Foresighted initiatives like this new coalition will break down barriers and help ensure that women are not held back and are given equal opportunities in the workplace,” added Clark.

Eight leading chief executives, including Good Energy’s Juliet Davenport, National Grid’s John Pettigrew and EDF Energy’s Simone Rossi have also backed the new initiative.

“I have always believed that a diverse workforce is the best way to drive success in an organisation and we’ve already seen with the emergence of the gender pay gap this year, the underrepresentation of women in senior roles brought more front of mind for business leaders than ever before,” said Scottish Power chief executive, Keith Anderson.

“We’re proud to join the Energy Leaders Coalition and hope to lead by example by showing how gender diverse teams with strong leadership can deliver far greater levels of innovation, creativity and success for our business.”