Together has stepped up its campaign to support female talent in specialist finance with its sixth Women in Finance summit, held yesterday (18 November) in Birmingham and focused on helping women “Be the CEO of Your Life”.
Hosted by Tanya Elmaz, managing director of intermediary sales and a long-standing champion of diversity and inclusion, the event brought together 30 female brokers, intermediaries and corporate finance professionals for a candid discussion on systemic barriers in a male-dominated sector.
Career development expert Jo Phillips led the headline session, setting out the “invisible barriers” that continue to limit progression for women in finance.
SELF-ADVOCACY
She warned that workplace cultures still condition women to downplay their contribution.
Phillips said: “Women will adapt their behaviours based on societal or systemic expectations. When they’re ready for promotion, they won’t necessarily self-promote.
“Women are expected to be selfless.”
“Instead, they’re much more likely to promote others. Women are expected to be selfless, to use ‘we’ instead of ‘I’, which means 30% of their career success is fundamentally undermined because they’re not practicing self-advocacy.”
WORKING HARDER
Drawing on more than two decades in recruitment, Phillips said women are still required to work harder simply to be noticed.
The statistics remain stark: for every 100 men reaching middle management, only 84 white women and 76 women of colour progress. In financial services, the gender pay gap stands at 66%, with bonus gaps just as severe.
But Phillips emphasised collaboration over division.
She added: “The only way we’ll achieve equity is by working together. We need to make systemic and societal barriers visible so women can navigate and dismantle them.”
ANNUAL FIXTURE
Together – the Cheadle-based specialist lender with a loan book approaching £8bn – has made the summit an annual fixture, using it to raise awareness of the subtle but deeply rooted obstacles facing women across financial services.
The business says tackling bias and empowering women to advocate for themselves is both a cultural responsibility and a commercial imperative.
Elmaz said the goal is long-term, practical impact.
“This event represents more than just dialogue.”
“This event is deeply important to me because it represents more than just dialogue, it’s about driving real, measurable change.
“By providing tools and strategies that women can use in the workplace we hope to give everyone a fair chance in achieving both their potential and their ambition.”
EVERY VOICE HEARD
She added: “My passion has always been rooted in creating environments where every voice is heard and valued, because diversity isn’t a box to tick; it’s the foundation of progress.
“When we talk about diversity and representation at all levels of an organisation, we’re addressing both an ethical responsibility and a commercial benefit.”
The summit forms part of Together’s broader push to close gender gaps and strengthen representation across the specialist lending market.
