Business correspondent(wp/es):
DRUGS giant GlaxoSmithKline today promoted its consumer division head to be chief executive, making her the most powerful woman in the City.
Emma Walmsley’s appointment takes the number of women running FTSE 100 companies to seven — the highest on record but still way short of targets. However, the fact she is in such a top-flight company — the sixth-biggest in the UK — will be seen as a victory for equality campaigners.
Walmsley (pictured) will become the pharma company’s first-ever female leader, giving her the reins of an £80 billion giant and leadership of nearly 100,000 people across the world.
The appointment follows a wide-ranging search by the company’s board of directors after Sir Andrew Witty announced his retirement earlier this year.
Walmsley joins Imperial Tobacco’s Alison Cooper, Moya Greene of Royal Mail, Carolyn McCall (easyJet), Liv Garfield (Severn Trent), Véronique Laury (Kingfisher) and Alison Brittain (Whitbread) on the list of women running FTSE 100 companies.
GSK — chaired by Sir Philip Hampton, who is leading the Women on Boards review — enjoys one of the highest rates of gender diversity in the City, with females comprising 42% of management.
“This is a great example of looking at internal talent and preparedness, and managing it in order to promote from within,” said Katushka Giltsoff, Miles Partnership senior adviser and a member of the 30% Club, which promotes gender diversity.
She joins the board in January and takes over in March with a challenging in-tray, including calls from shareholders such as Neil Woodford and hedge fund Och-Ziff to break up the company.
Witty has been under pressure during his tenure to boost growth at the group.
Walmsley spent 17 years at L’Oréal before she was poached by Witty in 2010.
She went on to run GSK’s booming consumer division, which includes brands like Panadol and Horlicks, and remained leader when it was hived off as a joint venture with rival drug maker Novartis.
Sales at the unit rose 6% this year, while Walmsley has doubled sales of big “powerbrand” products like Sensodyne toothpaste from £550 million to £1 billion since taking over.
DRUGS giant GlaxoSmithKline today promoted its consumer division head to be chief executive, making her the most powerful woman in the City.
Emma Walmsley’s appointment takes the number of women running FTSE 100 companies to seven — the highest on record but still way short of targets. However, the fact she is in such a top-flight company — the sixth-biggest in the UK — will be seen as a victory for equality campaigners.
Walmsley (pictured) will become the pharma company’s first-ever female leader, giving her the reins of an £80 billion giant and leadership of nearly 100,000 people across the world.
The appointment follows a wide-ranging search by the company’s board of directors after Sir Andrew Witty announced his retirement earlier this year.
Walmsley joins Imperial Tobacco’s Alison Cooper, Moya Greene of Royal Mail, Carolyn McCall (easyJet), Liv Garfield (Severn Trent), Véronique Laury (Kingfisher) and Alison Brittain (Whitbread) on the list of women running FTSE 100 companies.
GSK — chaired by Sir Philip Hampton, who is leading the Women on Boards review — enjoys one of the highest rates of gender diversity in the City, with females comprising 42% of management.
“This is a great example of looking at internal talent and preparedness, and managing it in order to promote from within,” said Katushka Giltsoff, Miles Partnership senior adviser and a member of the 30% Club, which promotes gender diversity.
She joins the board in January and takes over in March with a challenging in-tray, including calls from shareholders such as Neil Woodford and hedge fund Och-Ziff to break up the company.
Witty has been under pressure during his tenure to boost growth at the group.
Walmsley spent 17 years at L’Oréal before she was poached by Witty in 2010.
She went on to run GSK’s booming consumer division, which includes brands like Panadol and Horlicks, and remained leader when it was hived off as a joint venture with rival drug maker Novartis.
Sales at the unit rose 6% this year, while Walmsley has doubled sales of big “powerbrand” products like Sensodyne toothpaste from £550 million to £1 billion since taking over.
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