CBI chief Fairbairn says business still has ‘long way to go’ on gender

Carolyn Fairbairn, a former non-executive director at Lloyds Banking Group and the Financial Services Authority, said she rarely attended an evening business dinner, or stayed to the end, because she was bringing up three children. Alongside sporting events, black tie mid-week business events were regarded as places where business people could network, Ms Fairbairn said.

She told Press Association: “I would rather have an early evening discussion panel, hold a proper debate, and then people can go home by 7.30pm.”

The former BBC director said it would be “terrific” if her appointment made a difference to how women looked at business careers.

“There has been good progress on reaching the 25 per cent target of women on boards, but there is a long way to go, especially among senior management,” she said.

Ms Fairbairn said she felt optimistic about the UK economy, as long as issues such as productivity, skills and infrastructure were tackled.

The UK has a poor productivity record compared to the US and Germany, and is struggling with the growing shortage of skilled workers, especially for jobs in computer science and specialist engineering, she noted.

Ms Fairbairn also bemoaned the state of the UK’s infrastructure and the cost to business of traffic jams, as well as the lack of an early decision on building a new airport runway in the South East. “We are just urging the Government to make a decision,” she said.

She echoed concerns of her predecessor John Cridland about careers advice in schools, adding that children would benefit from more contact with businesses.