As the group chairman of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Kathy Cowell OBE DL is one of the region’s most senior health chiefs.
Cowell, who previously spent 24 years working at Cheshire Building Society, has worked tirelessly to get more female staff to put themselves forward for awards.
Speaking at BusinessCloud’s roundtable ahead of International Women’s Day, run in association with GM Business Growth Hub, she said: “In health, we have something called Clinical Excellence Awards.
“When you get to a certain level of consultant, you can put yourself forward for a bronze, silver and gold, and then you get a grade nine, which is a national award.
“I’m really passionate about this, but when you look at the data and the statistics, the only people that were getting these awards were men.
“I wanted to understand why this was and looked at the data. Why weren’t women putting themselves forward?
“To nominate yourself you have to fill in a form before it’s judged by a panel and put through a national process.
“I wanted to unpick all of that, so I talked to some of my colleagues, women consultants. Lots of them are part-time and they don’t do research, so they believed there was no point in them entering.
Roundtable ahead of International Women’s Day
“I wanted to change the whole system to ensure that women, whether part-time or full-time, understood the difference they were making in the job that they did. It took three years to change the dial on that, to get women to do it.”
Cowell, who was included in BusinessCloud’s 2024 list of Northern Leaders, said her philosophy was shaped by her mother.
“I grew up with a mother who said, ‘you didn’t come into the world with an apron’ and ‘you’ve got two older brothers, do not iron their shirts’.
“I’ve been around a long time. When I went into banking from school and the boys got day release, I did my banking exams at night school.
“When I was a junior in banking my boss was sending me to buy a pair of knickers for his girlfriend. Can you believe that that would happen in this day and age?
“I went to Cheshire Building Society, and that was so different. We had 49 per cent of females in management at that time.
“I think one of my roles in life is to encourage people to go that bit further, to spot talent, and encourage them about making connections and helping people. I think that’s really important, and Cheshire helped me do that.
“Our philosophy at the Cheshire was that if you’re in senior management, you have to do something in the communities that we operate in. That’s why I ended up in health, a real fluke, but, an absolutely brilliant thing for me. The Cheshire was ahead of its time.”
She was joined on the roundtable by: Susanna Lawson co-founder, OneFile and Circle of Trust; Alison Ross, chief people and operations director, Auto Trader UK; Janine Smith, director, GM Business Growth Hub; Sharon Amesu, Northwest Business Leadership Team; Nicola Merritt is CEO of Cortus Advisory; Clare Roberts, CEO, Kids Planet; Lisa Morton, CEO of Manchester-based Roland Dransfield PR; Alison Salas, senior marketing manager, Rochdale Development Agency; Shru Morris, CEO Designate at DSW; Tiffany Thorn, founder & CEO, BiVictriX Therapeutics Ltd; Beckie Taylor, co-founder Tech Returners and Empower; Chris Stott, managing partner, KPMG Manchester; Amanda Ruddiman, director, corporate finance. KPMG; Kirsty Smith, KPMG Emerging Giants team; Emma Birchall, partner, JS (Jackson Stephen); and Christy Foster, managing director, The Nursery Store.