First women’s private club appoints chief. Guess what? He’s a man
Founders of the Allbright justify hiring by saying the movement needs to bring along ‘enlightened men’
BRITAIN’S first private members’ club for businesswomen has been attacked by female business leaders after hiring a man as its first chairman.
The Allbright, which claims to be “making the UK the best place to be a female leader”, has appointed Allan Leighton, the former chief executive of Asda and current chairman of the Cooperative Group.
The club has had much publicity since it opened earlier this year and its members include high-profile women in business, politics and the media such as Martha Lane-fox, the entrepreneur who sits in the House of Lords, actors Naomie Harris and Ruth Wilson, and Margot James, the Conservative MP.
Members meet in a five-storey Georgian town house in London. A slogan plastered across its windows quotes Virginia Woolf: “A woman must have money and a room of her own.”
Inside, the art on the walls and the products in the bathroom are designed by women. Behind the bar, the wine is sourced from vineyards run by women and the cocktail list pays homage to female pioneers.
The business was formed in 2016, initially to raise funds for female entrepreneurs but later became a womenonly private members’ club. For £750, plus £250 joining fee, there’s a library, exhibition space, meeting rooms and beauty bar and powder room.
Earlier this year, founders Debbie Wosskow and Anna Jones, the former Hearst Magazines chief executive, told The Guardian that its name was inspired by a quote by Madeleine Albright, who is the first woman to become the US secretary of state.
Ms Wosskow said: “You know the one: ‘There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.’ Those words really resonate with us.”
Men are permitted entry as guests and the business has male investors as well as men on its advisory board, however the appointment of Leighton has left some campaigners frustrated.
Ann Francke, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, told The Sunday Times: “We would never see a female chair of a men’s club. This underscores how far we have to go to get equality in the workplace.” Only six of Britain’s 100 biggest public companies are chaired by women.
The Women’s Equality Party said the appointment “seems at odds with [the club’s] mission to change the way the world thinks about female-led businesses”.
The founders defended the move. “Allan really spoke to what Allbright is – we are not anti-men,” Wosskow told The Sunday Times.
“There are so few women running FTSE 100 companies and we can’t change that unless we bring enlightened men with us on the journey.
“Allan has been a huge employer of women and is a natural champion of what we are trying to achieve.”
Ms Jones added: “We have two strong, confident, experienced female founders, but we do employ men.
“You don’t change the conversation by ghettoising women and saying ‘men aren’t welcome here’. You change the conversation by celebrating women.”
Mr Leighton could not be reached for comment.
‘We would never see a female chair of a men’s club. This underscores how far we have to go to get equality’