LAURA FARNSWORTH
Partner
Lewis Silkin
Pattern worked: 4 days a week
In addition to her work as a partner in Lewis Silkin’s employment practice, Laura heads up Rockhopper, the firm’s low-cost, fixed-fee HR support service, which she established in 2014. Staffed by 14 experienced lawyers, all working from home on a part-time basis, Rockhopper has opened up senior private practice legal roles to flexible working, and was described as standout at the 2016 FT Innovative Lawyer Awards. She was promoted to partner eight years ago during her maternity leave. On her day off, she spends time with her children and has developed a babysitting app called Sitster. Through Sitster she has championed and participated in a scheme to help mothers train and find part-time, home-based work as social media managers.
HELEN JOHNSON
AD, UK&I Olay and Head of Shopping Marketing NE
Proctor & Gamble
Pattern worked: 90% contract
Helen’s work at P&G covers two distinct areas, both requiring high levels of strategic focus. As Head of Shopper Marketing, she works with retailers across Northern Europe to drive growth; additionally, her Associate Director role sees her masterminding commercial plans for the Olay brand across the UK and Ireland. After having their first child, Helen and husband Paul, who also works at P&G, took advantage of the company’s flex@work programme. This has allowed them to share childcare by working a 90% work schedule, and ensured that Helen’s skills were retained and maximised within her new part-time arrangement. As well acting as a role model for other P&G employees wanting to excel within a flexible career, she is an active voice on a local network for mums in business.
CLAUDIA KENYATTA
Corporate Strategy Director
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
Pattern worked: 4 days a week
Claudia is the Strategy Director in the rapidly growing DCMS, developing objectives and ensuring that the right funding, structures, people and systems are in place to deliver them. She works closely with ministers and board members to support policy making and manage risk, using robust evidence and analysis. She also manages relationships with partner organisations, and makes sure that the department’s culture and practices keep up with the pace of change. Claudia is one of DCMS’s most visible flexible working champions, having previously worked in a successful job share to balance her professional and family responsibilities. She also leads the department’s flexible working network.
SINEAD LYNCH
UK Country Chair
Shell
Pattern worked: 4 days a week
Sinead is accountable for the oversight of Shell’s UK operations, representing the business in its dealings with partners, government bodies and other key stakeholders, as well as leading more than 5,500 staff. She previously spent 23 years in the BG Group, where she sat on the Group Executive Committee and headed up the Group’s integration with Shell in 2016. A senior female employee in a male-dominated industry, Sinead chose to work part-time after the birth of her first child, and has since been promoted on that basis. She is a strong advocate for flexible working within Shell, encouraging employees to access the benefits available to them and sharing her story through webcasts, policy discussions and speaking at events.
REBECCA MARSHALL
Managing Partner
MediaCom
Pattern worked: 4 days a week
As Managing Partner, Rebecca sits on MediaCom’s leadership team, helping shape the future of the agency as well as overseeing one of its biggest clients. She has played an instrumental part in establishing MediaCom as The Place To Grow, an initiative which aims to stimulate, grow and reward talented people within a supportive environment. Returning to work part-time after having her daughter, Rebecca won two pitches for important global clients, and led the team that secured the strategic planning for the This Girl Can campaign which won Gold at MediaWeek. She has continued to work part-time after being promoted to Managing Partner, and is part of Shine, a WPP movement that helps women progress to senior levels within the advertising industry.
ELIZABETH NEAL
Head of Legal, LSE Plc
London Stock Exchange Group Plc
Pattern worked: 4 days a week
Having joined LSEG in 2005 as a junior lawyer, Liz has worked on a variety of notable projects en route to her current role, including the planned merger with Deutsche Boerse in 2016-17. Her experience spans M&A, competition law, commercial law and regulatory affairs, and she also advises on wider group matters, such as employment and pensions. Liz became part-time in her previous role following maternity leave, and was promoted on that basis to her role as Head of Legal. She has paved the way for greater flexibility throughout LSEG, with a number of members of the legal team now working part-time or flexibly, helping to generate support for wider adoption throughout the Group.
SARAH NEWNHAM
Global Category Director, Customer Marketing
Diageo
Pattern worked: 4 days a week
Sarah heads up a customer marketing procurement team based across New York, London and Singapore, with responsibility for identifying opportunities, driving visibility and brilliant execution for Diageo brands. Her role includes building category strategies which are executed globally, and driving productivity and change to fuel the growth of the business. In June 2017, she was part of the global marketing team who were awarded Team of the Year; she has also led her productivity colleagues to gain distinction at the Procurement Brilliance awards. Sarah returned to Diageo after maternity leave into her part-time role and has continued to develop her strengths and skills whilst working flexibly, as well as encouraging others in her team to do the same.
FRANCESCA PIERCE
Director of Finance, Group Financial Insight and Planning
Sky
Pattern worked: 4 days a week
As part of the Senior Leadership team, Francesca leads Sky’s long-term financial planning and helps shape the Group’s strategy. Her role has a wide scope, ranging from tracking the different operations and results across Sky’s territories in order to make the Group more efficient and more profitable, to carrying out deep-dive analysis on specific parts of the business. Francesca moved from fulltime to part-time in 2011 to spend more time with her two sons, now 5 and 7, and has been promoted several times with the same arrangement. She has championed part-time work in her role leading the commercial finance staffing panel, and acts as a mentor to other women who are considering working flexibly after maternity leave.
Main image credit: Billion Photos/Shutterstock
