Stephen Morgan MP has hailed success stories from women in business and industry in Portsmouth – and called on government to recognise the crucial role women play in building a stronger economy, as the city marks International Women’s Day.
The Portsmouth MP highlighted:
- Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile.
- Companies with more than 30% women executives were more likely to outperform companies where this percentage ranged from 10 to 30, and in turn these companies were more likely to outperform those with even fewer women executives, or none at all.
- Having women on boards helps companies perform better – with a study of UK FTSE 100 firms finding a positive relationship between gender diversity and firm performance, which became more significant when three or more women were appointed to the board.
- Women-led SMEs contribute about £85 billion to economic output.
But with the government’s own BEIS survey showing that only 16% of small business employers and 1 in 3 of entrepreneurs are women, Labour is calling for the Conservatives to recognise and lift up the role women play in the economic recovery.
Labour has pledged to create 100,000 start-ups across the country in the first term of government, and the party’s Equal Recovery Pledge looks to tackle gender inequalities “supercharged” by Covid pandemic through the introduction of stronger family-friendly rights, equal pay comparisons across employers and action to tackle workplace harassment.
Yesterday, Labour Leader Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves hosted a roundtable with women-led businesses at Kings College in London, and along with Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary Anneliese Dodds, and Labour’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, they hosted a reception for women entrepreneurs in the evening.
The Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan MP, said:
“Women in Portsmouth and across Britain felt a disproportionate hit during the pandemic – but now it must be recognised that they hold the key to supercharging our economy as we look to get our recovery on track.
“Labour wants to do things differently, with an approach based on bringing people together in a national endeavour, and on understanding that Britain’s real wealth is found in the effort and talent of tens of millions of working women.
“On International Women’s Day we celebrate women, recognise the challenges they face still today and what we can all do to tackle these”.
The city MP has been a champion for women and in tackling the inequalities they face, attending a women’s empowerment conference on Saturday to mark International Women’s Day bringing together business and charity leaders from across the city, hosted by Urbond and sponsored by Start Up Disruptors.
