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Friday 10 March 2017 12:01 am

From PwC’s chair to the boss of Vodafone: Here are the top 30 men helping to tackle gender inequality in the workplace

By: Rebecca Smith

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Lloyds Banking Group’s chief executive of commercial banking and the chairman of PwC have been named among the top 30 men challenging the status quo and promoting gender equality in the workplace.

The Women’s Business Council and Management Today have revealed their 2017 Agents of Change, listing 30 male leaders who are actively working alongside women to change working cultures.

Read more: International Women's Day: 12 of the most awesome women in the City

Andrew Bester, Lloyds Banking Group’s group director and chief executive of commercial banking, was selected after his firm became the first FTSE 100 company to make a public commitment on gender equality.

Llouds Banking Group's Andrew Bester
Llouds Banking Group's Andrew Bester

Lloyds Banking vowed that 40 per cent of its top jobs would be held by women by 2020. And since Bester took on the role of executive sponsor for inclusion and diversity in 2014, the number of female external hires into senior management roles has risen five per cent. The bank has banned all-male shortlists for its top jobs.

Chris Norwood, a head teacher at Northfleet School for Girls, also made the cut. He developed bespoke teaching models to raise girls’ aspirations into STEM and enterprise. Norwood also launched a pilot study for Your Daughter’s Future – a Women’s Business Council and Government Equalities Office toolkit designed to help girls and their parents consider different career options.

He said all students "deserve the best opportunity to become exceptional leaders and this journey starts in school".

The 30 "Agents of Change"

 

  1.  

Aki Stamatis

Chairman, Fourfront Group

     2.

Andrew Bester

Group director & chief executive commercial banking, Lloyds Banking

     3.

Andrew Lawson

UK&I managing director and SVP North Europe, Middle East and Africa Salesforce

     4.

Andrew Hill

Management editor, Financial Times

     5.

Ben Black & Oliver Black

Joint nomination

Founders, My Family Care

     6.

Chris Norwood

Head teacher at Northfleet School for Girls

     7.

Chris Stylianou

Chief operating officer, UK & ROI, Sky

     8.

Chris Brook-Carter

Managing director, Retail Week

     9.

Chris Murphy

Group managing director (Europe, the Middle East and South Asia), ThoughtWorks

     10.

David Sproul

Senior partner & chief executive of Deloitte in the UK, member of the Deloitte Global Executive

     11.

Edwin Alford

VP business application services, BP

    12.

General Sir Gordon Messenger KCB DSO* OBE ADC

Vice chief of the defence staff (VCDS), Ministry of Defence

    13. 

Kevin Ellis

Chairman and senior partner, PwC

     14.

Marc Allera

Chief executive, EE

     15.

Mervyn Davies

Lord & ex minister, chair of Corsair, SID Diageo

     16.

Mike Haigh

Group managing director and business representative of advance employee network, Mott MacDonald

     17. 

Mike Putnam

President & chief executive, Skanska UK

     18.

Neil Williamson

Chief executive, Jardine Motors Group

     19.

Nick Baughan

Chief executive, Maxus UK

     20.

Paul Kissack

Director general, Civil Service

     21.

Philip Thomas

Chief executive, Cannes Lions

     22.

Richard Robinson

Managing partner, Oystercatchers

     23.

Robert Hannigan

Director, GCHQ, the government communication headquarters

     24.

Roger Whiteside

Chief executive, Greggs

     25.

Russ Shaw

Founder, Tech London Advocates

     26.

Sir Roger Carr

Chairman, BAE Systems

    27.

Steve Hatch

Regional director Northern Europe, Facebook

    28.

Steve Varley

Chairman and managing partner UK&I, EY (Ernst & Young)

    29.

Tom Knox

Chief executive and president, Mullen Lowe and IPA

    30.

Vittorio Colao

Chief executive, Vodafone Group

Over 150 men were nominated, from a range of sectors including education, media and financial services.

Cilla Snowball, chair of the Women’s Business Council, said:

This list champions the male leaders who are making a difference for women in many fields of work.

We applaud all of this year’s nominees; every single entry showed gender equality in action and provided a brilliant bank of case studies on how to challenge the status quo.

Women's minister Caroline Dinenage said the list served as "a fantastic way to celebrate the good practice already happening in workplaces across the country".

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