Accelerating Action: Enabling Female Leadership

Welcome back to our spotlight series celebrating colleagues who are inspiring change and Accelerating Action across the technology sector. This month’s edition focusses on female leadership and the enhancement of progression opportunities.

International Women’s Day 2025

For every 115 UK tech roles only one will be filled by a woman, thus revealing a significant underrepresentation in the sector and huge loss given the benefits for financial performance and innovation generated from gender diversity. This is further illustrated by the fact that although women make up nearly half of the overall workforce, only 24% of the UK tech force is female.

These barriers in tech result in major difficulties for promotion and career growth for women in the sphere. In fact, a 2022 report from McKinsey found that only 52 women are promoted to manager for every 100 men in the tech industry. This figure is surprising considering inclusive environments mean career advancement are significantly more likely for both men (15%) and women (61%).

BT Group and FinTech Scotland are committed to championing female progression and recognise that inclusion and diversity is critical to growth.

BT Group Celebrations

This year, BT Group are choosing to focus on the theme of “Remarkable Women” to highlight the inspirational and innovative work of many talented female colleges within BT and across various industries.

BT Group are passionate about ensuring women have the skills and tools to move into the tech sector and advance their careers. For instance, BT’s Passport scheme and ‘three together and two wherever’ encourages flexibility in the workforce by allowing those who need it, to work from home. This inclusive scheme acknowledges familial responsibilities, enhancing opportunities and increasing diversity in the workplace.

BT works to inspire and encourage women to enter the Telco sector, teaming with charities including CodeFirstGirls and Black Girls Tech Summit to empower women and help them stay ahead in a competitive industry. BT Group’s Returner initiative supports women to re-enter the workforce, recognising the unique hurdles career returners face. The program is designed to provide mentorship, training and hands-on experience to help individuals regain confidence and thrive in their careers (Flexa., 2024).

Fiona Vines, Chief Inclusion, Equity & Diversity officer at BT Group, is a key example of a woman who has reached a successful leadership position despite facing unexpected challenges and prejudice in a very male dominated industry. Fiona is a keen feminist and an inspiration, particularly to women who are looking to grow their career and have a family at the same time. Another notable example is Claire Gillies, CEO of Consumer, who is passionate about supporting women and advancing female leadership by being apart of the International Women’s Forum.

Fintech Scotland Celebrations

Exceptional leadership at FinTech Scotland was highlighted in the Innovate Finance Women In Fintech Powerlist in March 2025 with both its CEO, Nicola Anderson and its Research & Innovation Programme Manager, Lauren Cassell making it to the list.

Nicola appeared in the 45 Standout List recognising women who have made an incredible, lasting impact in fintech, going the extra mile to enable sustainable change.

Lauren was named amongst the Rising Stars for her amazing contribution to fintech innovation through her work at FinTech Scotland’s Financial Regulation Innovation Lab and for the FCA’s Innovation Lab.

Allison Kirkby, CEO, BT Group

Allison Kirkby is a pioneer in the world of business, breaking barriers and traditional perceptions. BT Groups’ first female CEO, started off as a Chartered Accountant Apprenticeship. Described as a “proven leader, with deep sector experience” she is already immersing herself in the business, transforming the organisation by cutting costs, restructuring areas and finding saleable assets. Her determination to find savings and optimise efficiency is visible through the 3% reduction of the workforce and negotiations to sell BT’s 50% stake in TNT Sports, formerly known as BT Sport. Allison’s hands on approach has already resulted in rising share prices and efforts to improve productivity has been successful with the more strictly monitored “three together, two wherever”.

“None of them look, talk or think like me… so I need to get in there!”

Allison is passionate about showcasing incredible female talent at BT Group and advises colleagues to “Be brave, be bold, be fearless” and “regularly put yourself out of your comfort zone”. This advice is highly beneficial to all women looking to succeed and inspires confidence in senior leadership as the company goes through a restructuring. Her career growth from a Chartered Management Accountant apprentice to now one of only 10 female CEOs among the FTSE 100 companies is a testament to her resilience and determination.

“Always think of the ‘So what?’ or ‘What if?’ questions”

Nicola Anderson, CEO, FinTech Scotland

Nicola Anderson, CEO of FinTech Scotland since January 2021, has been pivotal in establishing Scotland as a leading fintech hub.

Under her leadership, FinTech Scotland was recognised as a cluster of excellence at the European level, reflecting the region’s prominence in financial innovation.  Nicola’s commitment to driving collaboration is evident in initiatives like the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL), launched in 2023. This industry-led program brings together regulators, financial institutions, and fintech firms to explore technological solutions for regulatory challenges and build a safer and more inclusive financial services sector.

Beyond her role at FinTech Scotland, Nicola serves as a non-executive director at Advice Direct Scotland and is a member of both the Scottish Taskforce for Green and Sustainable Financial Services and the Scottish Government’s Financial Services Growth and Development Board. 

Throughout her career, Nicola has been an influential advocate for making finance work well for customers, society, business, and markets. She has been directly engaged in digital and data transformation, regulation, and policy development, with an emphasis on innovation, collaboration, and customer-focused outcomes.

Nicola’s dedication to diversity and inclusion is also noteworthy. She has been instrumental in developing lasting relationships between FinTech Scotland and a broad range of consumer and citizen advocate groups, such as Money Advice Scotland, Advice Direct Scotland, Age Scotland, and Mental Health and Money Advice. This work led to the creation of the first fintech consumer panel in the UK, enabling cross-sector collaboration in building fintech propositions focused on citizen needs. 

In her own words, Nicola emphasizes the importance of collaboration for driving better consumer outcomes:

“Bringing together ambitious fintech firms and leading financial institutions not only enhances good consumer outcomes—it accelerates the development of inclusive digital financial services and supports the evolution of the future digital economy.” 

Below you will find sign up links where you can get involved in celebrating this year!

• House of Nine Sorority – 8^th March - 2nd Annual International Women’s Day Assembly & SIS Program Finale Registration, Sat, Mar 8, 2025 at 11:00 AM | Eventbrite
• Changing the face of Northern Ireland – 8^th March Members of the Irish Writers Union since 2019 | How Ulster makes its money
• The World Association for Sustainable Development (WASD) – 8^th March - International Women’s Day 2025 Tickets, Sat 8 Mar 2025 at 10:00 | Eventbrite
• EMPLUMAR - Own Your Wins – an Imposter’s Dilemma Game – 13^th March -International Women's Day 2025 - Emplumar
• WIBF – Fertility in the workplace- 12^th March 12:30-1:30pm - Fertility in the workplace – WIBF
• MiGSO-PCUBED Project Management Consultancy – 12^th March – 3:30-6pm International Women's Day Project Panel Discussion MIGSO-PCUBED Tickets, Wed 12 Mar 2025 at 15:30 | Eventbrite
• Bright Network ~ Making HERstory – 12^th March Bright Network Making HERstory | Bright Network
• Transformative potential of gender equity in negotiation and leadership – 16^th March – 3-4pmNegotiating equality: unlocking the power of diverse teams : WorldCC
• National Council of Women GB - Women and Poverty – March 20^th 12-2pm-Women and Poverty Tickets, Thu, Mar 20, 2025 at 12:00 PM | Eventbrite
• ETHERA Empower Tech Women – 18^th March 4-4:45pm - March - Introduction to ETHERA: Mentoring for Women in Tech Tickets, Tue 18 Mar 2025 at 16:00 | Eventbrite
• Rewriting the Code ~ Unite & Ignite Women in Tech Summit – March 25-27^th Unite & Ignite Summit | Rewriting the Code
• One Tech World 2025 – Conference for Women in Tech - 28^th March – 9:30-5 wearetechwomen.com