Collaboration, not cupcakes, should define International Women’s Day

Historically, I’ve not been the biggest fan of International Women’s Day. Of course, I’m a fan of women (and an even bigger fan of equality), but the day has often felt overshadowed by corporate marketing stunts and meaningless virtue signalling.

Where were the uncomfortable conversations about gender inequality and calls for meaningful, systemic change?

That changed this week, after I attended a Buy Women Built dinner. In business, a lack of competitiveness is often seen as a weakness. In that room, over 120 women openly swapped ideas, contacts, successes and failures – and the absence of competition and eagerness to support one another was powerful.

“We know it’s hard being female,” said Hannah Gibson, CEO of BWB sponsor Ocado Retail. “It’s harder to get funding. It’s harder to be taken seriously. It’s hard to raise a brand and a family. These things aren’t easy and so we must shine a light on what is possible when we work together as a community.”

In this week’s cover feature we explore this instinct to share, communicate and collaborate, shining a spotlight on some of the most exciting female founded partnerships in the grocery sector – written by The Grocer’s female staff, naturally.

But there is still much to be done. The latest FTSE Women Leaders Review found 45% of women hold board positions in grocery, personal care and drug retail (fourth overall), and 37% in food, beverage and tobacco (16th place out of 21 sectors). However, take out non-exec roles and just 9% of executive board positions are held by women in grocery, personal care and drug retail – and in food, drink and tobacco, just 4%.

So thank goodness for women like Aldi COO Julie Ashfield. As our big interview this week, she spoke openly about female leadership. Confidence was a recurring theme, but so too was leaning into typically ‘female traits’ – qualities that are, in reality, some of our greatest strengths.

Women don’t need workplace yoga, coffee mornings or promotional cupcakes, as lovely as those things may be. We need fair pay, decent maternity (and paternity) leave and the freedom, and recognition, and power, to make our voices heard.

So happy International Women’s Day. Speak up. Take your seat at the table. And, most importantly, bring others with you