Supporting women into leadership roles one industry at a time

While gender diversity in sectors like property, technology, chemicals and manufacturing is improving in the UK, the number of women in equivalent roles to men is significantly lower. Delivering equal opportunities to improve gender equality leads to increased representation of women in senior roles, which leads to more diversity of thinking, which benefits everyone.

Since 2024, the firm has expanded its “Women in…” series of events, not only broadening its reach to clients but also enhancing the understanding of the challenges faced by women in specific sectors and sharing initiatives and techniques to foster positive change. Led by the firm's women's network, WBD Thrive, to date the series has reached more than 100 clients (both women and allies) in the technology, property, and process sectors.

Starting brave conversations is the first step. WBD Thrive partnered with legal industry experts and took the initiative to give women a platform to discuss key issues around gender equality and the challenges faced at all levels. This created a space to share experiences and working practices, and re-frame gender diversity so that business leaders see the benefits, not least for economic growth.

WBD Thrive hosted the inaugural 'Women in… the Chemicals and Process sector' event at its Teesside office in the Wilton Centre; Teesside is home to the largest chemical complex in the UK and the Wilton Centre is one of Europe’s largest R&D facilities. This event brought people together, in many cases for the first time. Its success led to a further event in February 2025 on imposter syndrome with plans to roll out additional roundtables and develop client focussed training to equip women working in the sector. Learnings from this event were taken forward in our 'Women in... the Energy sector' event in May 2025.

These events help individuals to build larger support networks and highlight best practice within the sector, through sharing success stories and effective strategies that help to inspire other organisations to adopt similar practices. Plans are already in place to expand the impact of the work done by bringing the discussion to other teams across the firm and a wider client audience.