Women at the top

National recruitment group HR GO plc is pleased to announce the results of a survey of the group and its Joint Venture companies in July 2008, that shows forty percent of their directors are female.

Prompted, by an analysis by Experian, a global information services company, that in 2007, twenty eight percent of UK directors were female, HR GO plc, surveyed its own staff and found it was way ahead of the norm. It found also that it meets the most exacting standards set in Europe by the Norwegian and Spanish Governments. Recently these governments issued directives, that forty percent of board members in their countries should be female, as reported by The Economist newspaper.

HR GO plc has nearly sixty joint venture companies and Chairman, Jack Parkinson, explains: ìWe have found this business model to be very successful as we provide back-office support to the companies and that enables them to concentrate totally on development of their business with a hands-on approach.

ìThe survey shows that the business model enables women to contribute at the director level. It is fitting that we should have such a high proportion of female directors as the business was founded by my late mother, Betty Parkinson in 1957, after she narrowly missed being involved in the Lewisham rail crash.

ìMy mother found that starting a recruitment business provided her with the flexibility she needed when she was unable to travel to London after the crash. Even today, she is a great role model for women, especially those that need to balance the demands of their careers with raising a family.

ìWe find that the flexibility and independence that our Joint Venture directors have, allows them freedom to work in their own way, and this is a great motivatorî, adds Jack Parkinson. ìThe high proportion of women directors is evidence that, for them, our Joint Venture model is a favourable route to the top. In fact, our last three have been set up by female managing directorsî.

HR GO plc is one of the top 50 recruitment companies in the UK. The business turns over circa 90 million and employs approximately 500 permanent staff nationally. For further information on HR GO plc please visit www.hrgogroup.co.uk.