Our ambition is to have strong female representation at the top of the organisation and we want to provide our female leaders with opportunities to develop their careers at United Utilities.
We are proud to have been recognised as one of the top 15 FTSE company performers when it comes to women in leadership, having exceeded the 40 per cent target for Women on Boards and Women Leaders set by the FTSE 100 Women Leaders Review and tracking at 44 per cent and 43 per cent respectively. With Louise Beardmore becoming the first female CEO at United Utilities and Alison Goligher taking up the role of senior independent non-executive director of our board, this strengthens our female presence in key board roles.
During the year, we launched our partnership with Women on Boards, which offers services such as workshops, podcasts, CV writing support and access to non-executive vacancies. Facilitating access to these services strengthens our ambition to support female colleagues in developing into senior leadership roles.
Our ambition is to have strong female representation at the top of the organisation.
Our chief digital officer, Heena Mistry, made the Northern Power Women 2023 Power List for her drive and passion to influence, inspire and deliver positive change. One of the 13 per cent of female senior IT leaders in the UK, Heena is proud of the diverse teams she’s built while working in different cultures and situations – often being the only female or ethnic minority at the table. Heena was voted in the UKTech50 for 2022, which identifies the 50 most influential leaders in the UK tech sector. She said: “It’s such a privilege to do what I love, to feel like I make a difference and be recognised for it. Our ambition to become a digital utility is more than technology; it’s about working with fantastic people every day to really accelerate the value we provide to customers and to look after our environment for generations to come.”
Meg Johnson (pictured above) joined our Aspiring Manager Programme in 2021 while working as a team leader and is currently in the final phase of her chartered manager degree apprenticeship at Manchester Metropolitan University. The Aspiring Manager Programme was set up to mitigate risks around hard-to-fill operational positions. Meg was recently promoted to the role of wastewater production manager; a critical role in our business and one traditionally held by male colleagues.
Delivering value for:
