Women who prove the future can be female

01 April 2011 by
Women who prove the future can be female

Welcome to April and Caterer‘s dedicated Women's Month, during which we will be celebrating women from all sectors of the hospitality industry.

Over the next five weeks, we'll be profiling high-flyers including Wendy Bartlett, chief executive of caterer Bartlett Mitchell, who talks about heading up a £17.5m turnover business; French chef Hélène Darroze, who will talk about the challenges of juggling two Michelin-starred restaurants in two countries while being a single parent; and hotelier Jeanne Whittome, owner of the Hoste Arms in Norfolk, who took over the running of her business after her charismatic husband, Paul, passed away last year. Other highlights will include a masterclass with Skye Gyngell of the Michelin-starred Petersham Nurseries in Richmond; a look at People 1st's list of Top 100 Women in Hospitality and an interview with the impressive Silvena Rowe on her forthcoming restaurant launch Quince at London's May Fair Hotel.

What all these women have in common is that they have made their mark in an otherwise male-dominated industry. However, in this issue we kick off Women's Month by looking at how, despite all these success stories, women in hospitality still encounter enormous challenges, especially at top level. Indeed, women in high positions are still vastly outnumbered by men, with just 6% of senior board executives being female despite women representing 56% of the total workforce.

This week, we speak to some of the industry's most successful women about how they have overcome these challenges and the price they've had to pay to get ahead. So is it impossible for women to have both, a family and a career? The message seems to be that while success certainly doesn't come without sacrifices, one doesn't have to preclude the other.

To read more from Women's Month in Caterer and Hotelkeeper - and to get the latest news, skills, inspiration, advice, jobs and much more - pick up your copy of the magazine from the newsagent, or subscribe today Subscribe to The Caterer today...join the Caterer Gold Club! or by phoning 0845 077 7755.

By Kerstin Kühn

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