To celebrate International Women’s Day, Peach 20/20 founder Peter Martin speaks to three high profile women on a mission: to get women into the boardrooms of the hospitality industry. And fast. 

The Plan B mentoring programme was launched five years ago by Ann Elliott, Emma Causer and Holly Addison “out of frustration’. Its impact was immediate. 

The three founders reflect on what’s changed in the five years since launch, celebrate the 500+ mentees they have welcomed on the programme and salute the wide and deep industry support. But their work is not done.

“Balanced boards are a commercial imperative” argues Ann Elliott. With a growing body of evidence linking diverse boards with high performance and a huge talent shortage in the sector - it’s hard to disagree.

So how do we accelerate change? Can we ever get to gender parity? What does it take to become a mentor? Which companies are leading the way on equality? 

Listen to this special Top Table podcast to find out.

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ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Emma Causer

Emma is Head of Strategic Partnerships UK at the RICS. She joined the hospitality industry from an early age, she went on to work for M&B and Café Rouge as a general manager, before moving into the lease and tenanted pub sector for Enterprise and Punch Taverns. She moved to Sky TV in 2006, focusing on the leased sector of the pub industry and then moved to BT Sport in 2013 to build (from scratch) the Group Sales division where she eventually overtook the leader in the market.

Emma is hugely passionate about supporting women in their roles, and supporting them to have successful careers, she previously founded Athena Mentoring, the predecessor to Plan B.

Holly Addison

Holly is a Co-Founder of Plan B Mentoring and a Senior Partner at leading global executive search firm, Korn Ferry, where she specialises in board-level appointments in Consumer and Technology, and Co-Chairs the Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Committee for UK & Ireland.

Holly has 25 years’ experience in executive search and consulting, advising clients from global corporations to start-ups, on how to attract, source and retain exceptional and diverse talent for leadership teams and boards.

Holly previously ran her own consulting firm and spent five years at the Walt Disney organisation in the USA, London and Paris.

A former Acorn Award Winner, Holly went on to chair The Acorn Club for 13 years and was one of the founders of The Acorn Scholarship.

Holly is a passionate supporter of diversity and inclusion; she is a Director and Trustee of the PM Trust charity, a member of the UK Hospitality DE&I committee and is an active member of the Business Leaders Group for Disability Confident.

Holly was educated in the UK, Switzerland and the USA, holds a degree in Modern Languages and a Level 5 Certificate in Coaching & Mentoring from Leeds University.

Ann Elliott

Ann has over 30 years’ experience of living and breathing hospitality. She works with businesses to solve strategic questions by focussing on customer needs, cutting through the noise and getting to the crux of an operator challenge. Ann understands and loves the industry bringing insight, people and creative solutions together. Supporting and connecting industry leaders and giving them a chance to grow, network and most importantly have a voice is incredibly important to her.

She is a NED, a speaker and facilitator, a co-founder of Plan B mentoring, a founder of the Hartwell Dinner Group, an Arena board member, a member of both the UKH events and casual dining committees, and a regular contributor to Propel events.

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