IWD 2025 – For ALL women and girls. Rights. Equality. Empowerment
Looking for a female CFO? Not always easy to find, but we have one of the best here at Stowe.
Get to know a bit more about the fabulous Louise Walker, the person behind the data (and happy dances) and her thoughts on the ongoing challenges facing women in the workplace.
8 March is International Women’s Day. This year UN Women are calling for action to unlock equal rights and opportunities for women and girls everywhere. You can learn more about the mission and this year’s theme on the website.
Despite huge progress on equality, the stats around women in senior finance roles are pretty shocking:
- Of the 793 women holding directorships on FTSE 250 boards in 2024, just 23 are Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) (a 12% decline from 2022)
- According to a report by Fortune, only 12% of CFOs at Fortune 500 companies are women. This number dwindles further when you look at FTSE 100 companies in the UK, where only 10 out of the 100 CFOs are women
- In 2024 HSBC announced its first female CFO in the banks 160 year history – and it was pretty big news
At Stowe we are proud to be a firm committed to providing opportunities for every individual to grow and succeed.
IWD felt like the perfect opportunity to find out a bit more about Louise, her career journey and how she has overcome any barriers.
Meet Louise Walker, Stowe CFO
After graduating with a BA in Economics, Louise held roles at PwC, Leeds Building Society and Walker Morris LLP before joining Stowe in 2020. As CFO Louise has seen us grow from £14m revenue in 2020 to c.£50m now, through the change of investor and is a member of the Board.
Tell us a bit about Louise, the person
Outside of work, I am mostly focussed on my two teenage daughters and frankly getting them through their teenage years – which is proving way more challenging than I ever imagined! But also probably my best learning experience too. I have a partner, Neil, whom I am marrying later this year – we are planning on motorbiking around Namibia for our honeymoon. Which brings me to hobbies – Neil got me into motorbiking last year. I have to say learning to ride the bike was probably the most terrifying experience of my life – I was in tears some mornings on my way to the course with the terror of it 😊 – but now I’ve learned how to do it, I can’t tell you how proud I am of myself. And I really enjoy it too.
Lastly, my other passion is health and fitness – I’m obsessed with the data from my Oura ring and love going to the gym – the leg press is my particular favourite!
What motivated you to pursue a career in finance leadership?
I got lucky during my year out between school and uni when I spent time working in PwC’s Corporate Finance department. This fuelled my interest in business and finance strategy. Since then, I have been pushing to get to a position where I can help deliver strategic business growth through a focus on sustainable financial success. I love my job.
Tell us about your career journey and how you reached the position of CFO
I came to Finance through work experience early on in my career at PwC, buying and selling businesses on behalf of clients. I then moved into a more strategic planning role with Leeds Building Society, which was absolutely fascinating. It occurred to me though that I would need more operational finance experience to get to CFO so I deliberately moved into a more traditional Financial Controller role with Walker Morris (and so came my introduction to the legal industry), moving into the role of Finance Director after 12 months.
When the role came up at Stowe, it was as though the stars had aligned for me – it gave me the step up to CFO which I really wanted, but also the opportunity to work for a firm whose value I had experienced firsthand a few years earlier, when I had split from my children’s father.
Can you share any challenges or experiences you have had as a women in finance
Historically I have felt slightly out of place as a woman in Finance. This even dates back to school, when I was the only girl in the top set for Maths at middle school. As a female CFO in a PE-backed business, I am still a bit of a rare beast – I went to a CFO event with Livingbridge a couple of years ago, to find myself the only female CFO in the room, with about another 20 odd men.
My best sponsors through life have always been men though – my dad, the male partner at PwC who got me my first permanent role there, the male client who referred me for the role at Leeds Building Society etc. And now of course I work for the wonderful Ken Fowlie – one couldn’t have a better sponsor than that!
What are the most rewarding aspects of your role?
The geek side of me absolutely loves a great set of data – crawling around it to see what insights it can provide. The people side of me loves engaging with colleagues to hear about their experiences on the ground, which always provides invaluable colour to the black and white image provided from the data – both are critical to making decisions.
Has being a woman in your position shaped your leadership style or decisions?
I used to be concerned that my natural style might be perceived to be insubstantial in a male-dominated world – male accountants are hardly renowned for their lightness and humour. But I decided some years ago that it was important to be congruent – to be myself both at home and at work. And so now you will see my happy dances in public forum, despite also being a “serious” member of the Board.
How do you envision the future of women in senior positions in the finance industry – or in any role?
The medium term outlook for more female finance leaders is not great in my view. This is down to three factors:
- Candidates for senior finance positions are generally assessed by male-dominated boards, who may feel more comfortable appointing a CFO who demonstrates more of those characteristics which they believe to be more typical in a finance leader
- Smart women tend to partner with smart men and when decisions need to be made re childcare responsibilities etc, it is still largely the woman who dials down her work commitments. This can provide a natural break in her career progression, if only through reduced work experience hours
- Women need to believe that they can do the role themselves, rather than focussing on the experience or skills they may not have yet.
What initiatives or policies do you think are essential for creating a more inclusive and equitable workplace?
Tying into my medium term outlook, I feel that boards need to work hard to ensure that a balanced set of potential candidates are available for assessment. This may mean a greater focus on aptitude, rather than on proven experience, in order to broaden out the sample. And ideally a balanced set of assessors too.
Flexible working policies are imperative to ensure that female talent is retained within the workforce as much as possible, ensuring that skills and frankly confidence are maintained and built on during periods where family commitments may need to play a larger part of their overall life.
And female leaders need to speak up and show others the path, pointing out their own trials and tribulations along the way, helping to build belief in the generations that follow.
Sources;
https://redgravesearch.com/insights/addressing-the-gender-imbalance-for-cfo-roles/
