OUR WOMEN’S TAKEOVER EDITION

I’m sure like me you can’t have missed what has felt like a truly seismic shift in the profile of women’s sporting competitions over the last couple of years. It’s been fantastic to, at last, see some serious sponsor and broadcaster funding providing better equipment facilities and access to quality training that makes competitive sports like cycling, football, cricket, netball and rugby league (to name only a few) so compelling to watch.

I’m also so proud of how we’ve played a small part in amazing initiatives like “Greene King Proud To Pitch In” to provide a further boost to women’s sport. Whilst this is positive news, I can’t help feeling that all the energy women have had to pour into lobbying just to get their voices and ambitions recognised by the so-called professional sporting associations, could have been better deployed in sporting competition itself. Thanks to the tireless determination of many trailblazers in women’s sports we now thankfully seem to be seeing some momentum for change but we still have a long way to go if we are to shift beyond the outdated notions of ‘equality’ towards giving women the true equity they rightly deserve.

It’s also not missed on me the contradiction that as a man I’m introducing you to our Women’s Takeover Edition, but whilst I have the opportunity, I wanted to invite my male colleagues in our business to think hard about how they can become better allies to the women that we work with. As always, we are on a journey and we have a long way to go, but I’m personally determined that over time we all play our part in making our brilliant brewing business a more inspiring and empowering place for women to make a difference.

As a Dad to three daughters nothing could be closer to my heart than wanting my own girls to feel they can access the opportunities in life that their male counterparts readily enjoy, I want them to be able to fulfil their ambitions with fewer barriers and with a more accepting attitude to their views and skills. A view I have both at home and at work.

A good first step to allyship comes through a better understanding of issues, as well as a recognition of what we are already putting in place to support women in Greene King. Of course, whilst our focus here is on our women, we know that at Greene King we are on a journey to everyday inclusion for all.

I hope you enjoy reading about some of the amazing success stories that are already being delivered by some of the 181 women across our business, and hopefully this inspires us all to do even more great things!

Thank You

Matt