Anna Butler joins breakfast panel for International Women’s Day

In the week of celebrations for International Women’s Day 2020, we were delighted to have our very own Anna Butler, UK Head of Legal, take part in a panel of high-flying women and diversity experts. Thank you to the Victoria, Victoria Westminster and Northbank Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) for hosting such an inspiring debate on the future of women in the workplace.

Anna was joined by a wonderful panel, chaired by broadcaster and journalist Nina Nannar, including Sadie Morgan, founding director of Stirling Prize winning architecture practice dRMM, Dowshan Humzah, Steering Board member of 50:50 Parliament and Roianne Nedd, Inclusion and Diversity expert.

Anna discussed how perceptions have changed in the working environment, “When I first started, we dressed in suits like men and were encouraged to act like men.” However, she believes that it’s slowly becoming more accepted that women should be authentic and that “we need to embrace who we are and ensure that the differences we bring are equally valued.”

Solutions to the gender bias issue were also discussed with Anna advocating the need to go back to basics, “We need to go into schools to talk to girls about what they can achieve.”

The event raised nearly £4,000 for Smart Works, a charity that provides high-quality interview clothes and interview training to unemployed women in need.