On the money with Gavin Hinks

On the money with Gavin Hinks

Hats off to Creaseys and Scrutton Bland in this year’s Accountancy Age survey of firms. Congratulations, I mean that most sincerely

gavin hinks, editor accountancy age

It’s not for record-breaking revenues, not sky-high growth rates. It’s not
even for surviving the downturn (both have positive growth by the way this
year).

No, our hearty felicitations go out to these firms because they are the only
two businesses in the 100 that we survey in this week’s issue that have female
managing partners. Yes, that’s right, only 2% of the firms have women at the
top.

Emma Roberts, managing partner at Creaseys, has been in the business since
she qualified and has helped steer the firm to a modest, but healthy, 6.7%
pick-up on last year’s business. Sharon Gravenor, who runs Scrutton Bland,
scored more with 7.8%. Neither of the firms made our Top50.

If our statistics are anything to go on, at least 10 managing partners in the
hundred biggest firms should be female and five in the Top50.

Where on earth are they? The talent is there. The number of women who win
Accountancy Age awards is a clear sign that ability is not the issue.

The problem is somewhere else and it’s somewhere between individual choice
and the inherent conservatism of partnerships who are dominated by men.

From 70 executives on the boards of the Big Four, six are women. That’s
almost 10%, but it’s hardly encouraging and does not instill any confidence that
a woman may one day lead one of the biggest firms.

But it’s a sign that people are rising to very near the top.

What the profession needs, however, is a role model. A single large firm that
breaks with habit and chooses a woman as leader. Then we might see the others
follow suit. Sadly, it doesn’t look like it will happen any time soon.

Gavin Hinks is editor of Accountancy Age

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource