Women making it their business to acknowledge their achievements

BELFAST BRIEFING:BELFAST MAY be still buzzing from its first MTV awards gig but already the city is getting ready to stage yet another inaugural awards ceremony. This one could give even Lady Gaga a run for her money.

She may not be on the guest list but it is a sure bet that women – specifically business women – will sweep the board at these awards.

The first Women in Business Awards next Thursday aims to “acknowledge, celebrate and reward” business women in the North. Organised by Women in Business, a networking group set up by local female entrepreneurs, the awards will see 39 short-listed candidates compete across 10 different categories.

If there is one thing Northern Ireland is not short of, it’s business awards – from entrepreneur of the year to best hi-tech start up and even the best local independent retailer.

As far as I know all of these awards are open to both women and men to enter, so why in 2011 is there a need for a women-only business award? Does it not somehow smack of a female alternative to the men-only golf club scene?

According to Roseann Kelly, the chief executive of WIB, no other awards exist in the North to celebrate the work of “inspirational businesswomen”.

“These awards are about the successes of businesswomen in Northern Ireland,” Kelly says.

“Of course there are lots of different business awards but do they actively promote women in business? Do they highlight the contribution that business women make to the economy? Do they acknowledge the challenges businesswomen have overcome to set up their own businesses and make them a success? That is why we need the Women in Business Awards 2011.”

She said the latest female unemployment statistics and recent research from the Chartered Management Institute show Northern Ireland is one of the worst offenders when it comes to the gender pay gap.

The institute says female executives in the UK get paid, on average, £31,895 compared to male colleagues in the same job who get an annual salary of £42,441. In Northern Ireland, it claims male managers get paid £13,793 more than their female colleagues for doing the identical job.

According to Kelly, the research will come as no surprise to businesswomen in the North.

“The business landscape in Northern Ireland is dominated by men in grey suits and there are still more men on company boards than women.

“I do think more companies are waking up to the fact that having women in key roles actually helps the business; in fact there is research which shows that having women directors on board can translate into real profits.”

It is not a case that women are actively discouraged or blocked from going on company boards, Kelly acknowledges, but “there is less chance of them getting on certain boards because the local business community is very male dominated”.

“Some women for a variety of reasons also don’t tend to put themselves forward for boards, not because they are not ambitious for themselves but because they are juggling a host of existing responsibilities, from work to childcare.

“That is not in any way particular to Northern Ireland,” she adds, “it is across the UK.”

Regional business development agency Invest NI is a case in point. It has not a single woman on its 12-strong board.

The Department of Enterprise says the agency has had women directors in the past and it is just about to launch a competition to appoint three new members to the board.

“As part of that process, we will be identifying a number of different ways to try and increase the number of applications from women,” a spokesperson said.

Women in Business firmly believes the North needs to wake up to how “gender equality in the workplace” can boost the local economy.

“Northern Ireland need to be more open to how the integration of women across every level of business can help the decision-making process and make a business stronger – there is a gender dividend and in this day and age companies need all the help they can get,” Kelly says.

According to one female entrepreneur with a highly successful track record, women should be judged on “results”, not whether they can wear trousers or a skirt to work.

Nikki McQuillan, former co-founder and director of the streat cafe franchise chain, says her approach was always to leave the gender card outside the door when it came to business.

McQuillan, who is now a lecturer at the University of Ulster’s business school, set up the streat with her husband in 1999. The business increased to 37 outlets with a team of 350 people and an annual turnover of more than £8 million before it was sold to Henderson Foodservice last year.

“I think women can be very effective at every level of business because they can approach things differently,” McQuillan adds. “Women are good at building working relationships and very good at negotiating.”