Women On Top

 

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere I still get a buzz from seeing my pictures in print so it was extra gratifying to see today’s blanket coverage in the business press of Emma Walmsley’s appointment as CEO of GSK, as it was my image that was widely used to accompany it. Following some last minute and rather secretive enquiries over the weekend about my availability on Monday, I was finally briefed on Sunday afternoon and made my way to GSK HQ the following day still with no idea of exactly what I would be doing. Eventually I was shown into a boardroom and told I had an hour with Emma to come up with something good, which was the easy bit - the editing, choosing and final preparation took another four hours and I was eventually released back to the outside world in the early evening clutching a non-disclosure agreement and with a clear understanding that divulging this news or trying to buy GSK stock ahead of the announcement would be a very bad idea indeed. Many of the articles made the point that she is now one of only seven female CEOs of FTSE 100 companies - strangely enough, when I looked to see who the others were, I realised that I had photographed four of them; Emma, Dominique Laury at Kingfisher, Alison Cooper at Imperial Brands and Carolyn McCall at Easyjet. Perhaps I should write to the other three and see if I can finish the set……….