New chairwoman at helm of network

An Aberdeen-based femaleled business network last night revealed it has a new chairwoman.

The Aberdeen X-Industry Support (Axis) Network was set up to raise awareness about gender diversity impacting the Aberdeen energy sector.

Karen Blanc, operations lead at Atkins’ Aberdeen oil and gas office, and a former committee member of Axis, takes up the position today.

Former chairwoman, Jenny Junnier, a senior manager at Deloitte in Aberdeen, helped focus the north-east energy sector on dealing with concerns facing women.

Ms Blanc said: “We plan for 2019 to be a year for positive action and change, with a focus on collaboration, membercontribution, sharing of best practice, and transparency.

“We remain committed to our mentoring and role model initiatives but have plans to go bolder with these in 2019, and we are looking to raise the profile of our events, with big plans for Offshore Europe this year.”

Deirdre Michie, chief executive of Oil and Gas UK and Axis Network sponsor, said: “I am very much looking forward to working with Karen Blanc and the committee.

“I do believe the window of opportunity is there for us all to embrace in 2019.

“I think we can make some significant strides in terms of positioning the industry positively for the gender balance in particular – Axis have a key role to take in driving this forward.”