{"id":58959,"date":"2015-07-09T16:43:32","date_gmt":"2015-07-09T16:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=af14813640c579fae5fb98ef61c69073"},"modified":"2015-07-09T16:43:32","modified_gmt":"2015-07-09T16:43:32","slug":"speech-celebrating-two-years-of-the-womens-business-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=58959","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Celebrating two years of the Women\u2019s Business Council"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>Good afternoon. Thank you for that kind introduction, I\u2019m delighted to be here. <\/p>\n<p>Guildhall once housed the Lord Mayor, business traders, big City hitters, and London\u2019s wealth creators.<\/p>\n<p>It was considered a powerhouse of the twentieth century.  <\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s extremely fitting to be joined today by the people I consider to be powerhouses of the twenty-first century \u2013  our female entrepreneurs, business owners, <abbr title=\"Chief Executive Officers\">CEOs<\/abbr> and leaders. <\/p>\n<p>50 years ago, never mind 800 years ago, you\u2019d have been hard pressed to find a single female business owner or board member \u2013 let alone enough to fill a whole room.<\/p>\n<p>So today, we should celebrate the progress that we\u2019ve all been a part of.<\/p>\n<p>I think it\u2019s only right to start with a quick round of thank yous;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To Guildhall, for providing such a stunning backdrop.<\/li>\n<li>Vodafone for their kind sponsorship, particularly <abbr title=\"Vittorio Amedeo Colao, CEO of Vodafone\">Vittorio<\/abbr>  and <abbr title=\"Helen Lamprell, Corporate and External Affairs Director for Vodafone UK and a WBC member\">Helen<\/abbr>. <\/li>\n<li>And of course, we wouldn\u2019t all be here if it weren\u2019t for the efforts of the Women\u2019s Business Council and <abbr title=\"Ruby McGregor-Smith, Chair of Women's Business Council\">Ruby<\/abbr>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"why-this-is-important\">Why this is important<\/h2>\n<p>If we want to achieve genuine change, this conversation must involve men too. <\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m pleased to see there are some men in the audience here today.<\/p>\n<p>But I know that when it comes to each of you here, I\u2019m preaching to the converted. That\u2019s why we all have a duty to get the message out there.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>That gender equality isn\u2019t just good for women &#8211; it\u2019s good for business.<\/li>\n<li>That it isn\u2019t just a women\u2019s issue, it\u2019s critical to our economy, and to our standing on the world stage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As the Chancellor said just yesterday in what was the first Conservative budget since 1996, we as a nation must improve our productivity. As a country we cannot afford to waste the skills and talents of a single person. Let alone half the population. <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why the case for change has never been so compelling.   <\/p>\n<p>The Women\u2019s Business Council estimates that better use of women\u2019s skills could be worth up to \u00a323 billion to our economy each year.<\/p>\n<p>And that if women were setting up and running new businesses at the same rate as men, there could be 1 million more female entrepreneurs. <\/p>\n<p>We also know that over one and a half million women would like to work more hours.  And if they worked just one extra hour a week, that would contribute 80 million more hours a year. <\/p>\n<p>These are powerful figures, and we must turn them into a reality.  <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inspiring-young-girls\">Inspiring young girls<\/h2>\n<p>For a long time, it felt like there was a lot of talk around workplace equality \u2013 but not always the action to match. <\/p>\n<p>As <abbr title=\"Ruby McGregor-Smith, Chair of Women's Business Council\">Ruby<\/abbr> pointed out, there was a lot of head nodding and warm words.<\/p>\n<p>But I think we have turned a corner; and the progress over recent years, which the creation of the Women\u2019s Business Council attests to, has put an end to the posturing and lip service.<\/p>\n<p>Now women lead a new dialogue, and many of you here have been enlisted as ambassadors and role models to inspire change. <\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s that last point, about role models, that I think can make such a difference to the choices of young girls. <\/p>\n<p>The other week I visited Mulberry School for Girls in Tower Hamlets with the First Lady, Michelle Obama, as part of her \u2018Let Girls Learn\u2019 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>She received a rock star welcome. <\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s because she could tell those girls \u2013 \u201cI know what it\u2019s like to be in your shoes.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The pupils I met that day were mature beyond their years, and I was struck by their confidence and passion to achieve their goals. <\/p>\n<p>Michelle Obama told these girls that if they worked hard, there was nothing they couldn\u2019t achieve; and that they can achieve it regardless of their background.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the message we should all be giving to girls and women everywhere, from classrooms, to boardrooms. <\/p>\n<p>It was wonderful for these girls to see a little bit of themselves in somebody who has gone so far and achieved so much. <\/p>\n<p>Her speech was incredibly inspirational, and those girls will no doubt remember the day that they met the First Lady \u2013 I know I certainly will!<\/p>\n<p>But girls need role models in their everyday lives too.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m sure we all remember at least one teacher in school, or a colleague in our first job, or a family member who sparked something in us. I definitely do. <\/p>\n<p>Today we\u2019re joined by pupils from Sydenham and Northfleet Girls Schools. <\/p>\n<p>Some of you will have helped us trial the \u2018Your Daughter\u2019s Future\u2019 guide, which offers advice to both pupils and parents on which subjects will lead to certain careers \u2013 and which will hopefully shape early ambitions.<\/p>\n<p>And Rhyl Primary School, who are working with the <abbr title=\"Women's Business Council\">WBC<\/abbr> and employers to broaden aspirations for all, is here too. <\/p>\n<p>So to the pupils here today, I want you to know that you can never start too young, and the decisions you make now, around the subjects you take, are a great investment for the future. <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m determined that no career is seen as off limits because of someone\u2019s gender, race or background. <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why I want to see more female entrepreneurs, and more women pursuing careers in <abbr title=\"Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths\">STEM<\/abbr> fields. Girls who study just one <abbr title=\"Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths\">STEM<\/abbr> A Level \u2013 science, technology, engineering or maths \u2013 will see their wages rise by \u00a34,500 a year on average.<\/p>\n<p>As we embark on the next five years, we\u2019re determined to govern as a one-nation government.<\/p>\n<p>And that means always looking for ways to inspire girls \u2013 so that every young person has the tools they need to fulfil their potential.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"success-in-government\">Success in Government<\/h2>\n<p>There has been a lot of success to build on. And I\u2019m so proud of what we\u2019ve achieved:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There are 1 million British <abbr title=\"Small and Medium Enterprises\">SMEs<\/abbr> with women at the helm. <\/li>\n<li>And we\u2019ve just been rated the best place in Europe to start a business. <\/li>\n<li>Only yesterday we celebrated the role of women in international business at the Milan Expo. So we\u2019re firmly on the map internationally and the UK is clearly a great country to be a future businesswoman!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As a Government we want to do everything we can to support women:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>Through Think, Act, Report, we are establishing a growing community of best practice &#8211; covering well over 2.5 million employees. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>We\u2019ve helped to achieve the lowest ever gender pay gap on record; it\u2019s virtually eliminated for women under 40 who work full-time. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>By pushing for 30 hours of free childcare we\u2019ll be helping support those who combine raising a family with work.   <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>And 20.6 million employees now also benefit from flexible working; over double the amount of the previous system. <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And that\u2019s just a small selection.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, there\u2019s still progress to be made. We now have a fantastic opportunity ahead \u2013 and we should get behind and support the personal goals of all women, at any stage of their career.<\/p>\n<p>When we talk about achieving equality for women, we don\u2019t just mean women in the boardroom or the corridors of power.<\/p>\n<p>We mean equality for every woman in our society; for our carers as well as our <abbr title=\"Chief Executive Officers\">CEOs<\/abbr>, for our mums as well as our Managing Directors.  <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"conclusion\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Talking about what we\u2019ve achieved, and the strides we\u2019ve made is often just as essential as talking about what more still needs to be done. <\/p>\n<p>Which is exactly why days like this are so important.<\/p>\n<p>To stop and take stock, and mark the achievements that serve to motivate us to go further.  <\/p>\n<p>As <abbr title=\"Ruby McGregor-Smith, Chair of Women's Business Council\">Ruby<\/abbr> mentioned earlier, the joint commitment of business and government means there\u2019s never a better time in history to be a woman.<\/p>\n<p>But I\u2019d go one step beyond that.<\/p>\n<p>I think there has never been a better time to be a woman with an ambition, and this Government is on your side. <\/p>\n<p>Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Great things can be achieved for women when government and business work together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58959\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}