The first female head of the CBI has labeled business dinners as ‘not very inclusive’ for women, in her first interview. Carolyn Fairbairn said she rarely stayed to the end of corporate dinners because she was bringing up her three children.
“Many women would rather go home to their families in the evening, maybe the business dinner is a vestige of old business life,” Fairbairn commented.
An alternative, she said, might be to host an early evening discussion panel, hold a proper debate, and then people can go home by 7.30pm.
She also used the interview to commend efforts to get more women onto city boards. “There has been good progress on reaching the 25 percent target of women on boards, but there is a long way to go, especially among senior management,” she added.
The new CBI director general also expressed confidence that Europe would not tear the employers’ group apart.Campaigners have criticised the CBI for being too pro-EU, but Mrs Fairbairn said most of its members “want to stay in a reformed European Union”.
Fairbairn was also optimistic about the growth of the UK economy, as long as issues such as productivity, skills and infrastructure were confronted.
Robert joined the HRreview editorial team in October 2015. After graduating from the University of Salford in 2009 with a BA in Politics, Robert has spent several years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past he has been part of editorial teams at Flux Magazine, Mondo*Arc Magazine and The Marine Professional.
