CELEBRATING TE’S AMAZING WOMEN

Welcome to the March edition of Ensemble on International Women’s Day.

As a working mother of three, one of whom is learning disabled, and the daughter of an elderly mother, I’ve always struggled to find the perfect balance between career and family life. This was something that needed to change, and so when I established my companies, I decided I wanted to make positive changes for women from the onset. This ethos was woven into the very fabric of ATG and it’s something I have carried forward to TE.

I have introduced initiatives that have made both companies more accessible to women. Flexible working, part-time opportunities at senior levels, job-share and homeworking (long before lockdown) have met the needs of the businesses and helped to retain flexibility and the desire of employees – and particularly women – to adopt flexible and changeable working patterns.  

And both businesses have benefitted hugely from a large number of women at senior level – including on the Board of Directors. And on the TE Board, Julie Niedzwiecki from Barings, is proudly flying the flag for the Private Equity world as Barings’ only ever female representative on their Investment Committee. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved and of the opportunities we’ve created for everyone.

As today is International Women’s Day, I’m very pleased to be introducing our new guidance for managing the menopause. Women make up 58% of our workforce, and a quarter of all women in the company are in an age group where they may be affected by symptoms.

Our guidance seeks to help us navigate the challenges and signpost further help and support. As a woman, I feel strongly that our women should be able to access the support they may need. It’s the right thing to do for true equality, inclusion and diversity and it’s something that all our people will benefit from knowing more about.

For more information, please CLICK HERE

Of course, we value all our staff, but on International Women’s Day, we acknowledge and celebrate the wonderful women of TE who play an essential part in the company’s success. And in this edition of Ensemble, we meet some of our fabulous colleagues. 

Last week, we held our 2022 Management Away Day at the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe. It was the first time we’d all been together since November 2019, so it was lovely to be reunited with everyone again. The day was focussed on the company value of collaboration. Why is it so important? Because collaboration helped us get through some of the most challenging times we’ve ever experienced as a company. Entertainment, theatre – it’s all about collaboration, about teamwork – and above all, it’s good for business. You can read a report from the day in this month’s newsletter and the presentations will be distributed to you all very soon so please do share with your teams.

A huge thank you to all the speakers who prepared and rehearsed their speeches in addition to their day jobs. Also, to Matt Clark and Fleur Manuel from Stagecoach for organising such a fantastic event, along with Karin Gartzke, Jessamy Hadley and Duncan Bennetts for the presentations and promotional videos, and of course to Fiona Martin and all the team at The Swan Theatre for making us all feel so welcome, plus the technical team working behind the scenes to put the performances on. Thank you also to Julian Russell and Mark Hollington from HQ Theatres for the wonderful food and hospitality and Matthew Clark, our wine distributor. Special mention and thanks to Jess Cosgrove and Sarah Woolley from Head Office for their unwavering support and finally, thank you – to all of you – for attending, especially those who travelled from overseas – Houri and the team from Sydney and Julie from Barings who flew in from New York.

Finally, we were delighted that the last remaining Covid restrictions were lifted in England recently after two unbelievably difficult and challenging years. At times, the journey to reach this point seemed endless, but we finally got there. We thank you all for your hard-work, commitment, resilience, adaptability and strength during this time.

Until next time, take care of yourselves.

Best wishes
Rosemary