“Getting a NED position in a PE-backed business”. This was the theme up for debate last week at the most recent NED Lunch for WACL members (Women in Advertising & Communications London), and Filipa Moreira – Directorbank’s Head of Consumer Practice – was invited to share her insight with guests alongside Stevie Spring, Chair of the Inspired Thinking Group and BBC Children in Need.
Around 20 highly influential women from the UK Communications industry attended the event looking for guidance and advice on finding and positioning themselves for their first NED role.
Greater female participation at board level is a hugely topical issue and countless studies have concluded that diversified boards with experienced voices do achieve better results. Yet, there is still an obvious gender imbalance across PE-backed businesses.
For such businesses, the ability to deliver quick impact is top of mind when seeking a NED. Can this person truly hit the ground running, drive growth and deliver value? The successful candidate is the one with the right combination of industry experience, skills and characteristics. Male or female, the decision is merit-driven.
As Filipa told guests: “The main barrier to talented women securing a NED role is visibility. Often women don’t move in the same circles as men, and this lack of familiarity can mean they are overlooked. To overcome this, targeted networking across the right channels is essential – with specialist head-hunters like Directorbank, PE investment firms and personal networks. Successful and ambitious women need to create awareness that they’re in the market and promote the specific experience and specialisms they can bring to the table.”
As one of the leading recruiters of board level talent to PE-backed businesses, Directorbank has an important role to play in discovering rising female stars and promoting their capabilities to the PE world. Our market leading network of board level candidates and industry experts includes many leading female directors and, over the years, we have seen an increase in the number of highly skilled women approaching us for advice on initial or further board directorships.
For more information contact Filipa at f.moreira@directorbank.com or call 020 7255 7940.
Filipa Moreira has more than 8 year’s international experience in executive search and is fluent in 3 languages. She heads up Directorbank’s Consumer Practice supporting a large number of private equity professionals across the investment cycle with executive search solutions for portfolio companies and pre-deal recruitment requirements including due diligence support, market intelligence and strategic advice.