Q&A with Sarah Sillars OBE and Nancy Rignall
Making the Fellowship equally attractive to both men and women in our industry
Peter Cottle, Chair of the Fellowship, was keen to hear the candid views of two well-known and respected female industry figures who sit on the Fellowship’s Committee. Here is what they had to say:
Q. Sarah, you have been on the committee for a little while now, what progress do you think we have made, if any, in terms of diversity and making the Fellowship more attractive to women in our industry.
A. Well, it’s been a pleasure to sit on the Committee for the past year or so. This is due in part to a genuine desire to extend Fellowship to all and that means addressing head on our aspiration to attract and engage more women into the Fellowship. It’s also super to have had Nancy join the Committee in recent times, a fabulous example of successful women in our sector who are getting directly involved in joining the quest for greater inclusion and diversity.
Q. Nancy, what attracted you to joining the Fellowship and indeed the committee and combining this with running your own business?
A. I consider myself to be one of life’s fortunate people. I’m not saying every day was full of sunshine and smiles, but I’ve had a fabulous career in the Automotive Industry since I started out with Ford fresh from university… and one of the single best things about my time in the industry is the fabulous friends I have made along the way. Whilst I’m still not ready to ‘hang up my boots’ I am definitely in those years where retirement is an option and I feel I’ve already lost some of my friends and contacts to that, which makes me sad. The whole thing about the Fellowship for me is the opportunity to keep in touch with people who aren’t either personally or geographically so close that I would see them as a matter of course, but people who I care about and would very much like to stay connected with. As for joining the committee as well as running my own business, well, I’ve always liked being busy!
Q. Sarah, you have headed other associations within the automotive industry what can we learn from these to grow membership?
A I’ve had the opportunity to lead two Membership organisations in the sector over the past twenty years. The reality is that we have been a male dominated industry for over 100 years. Currently we have an industry of 83% men and 17% women, so we have a very sizeable way to go to harmonise the gender balance. However very positively our sector, especially with increased technology and advanced engineering, continues to attract more and more women and a good cohort of female apprentices. So, slow but continuous positive steps are emerging in attracting and keeping new talent to the sector. Roles especially being sought by women are in marketing, HR, IT, Finance and customer service. The next step is to make sure we are open to ideas and continuously look to make our Fellowship appealing. People have choices on how to spend their time and money, so we are very mindful of that.
Q. Nancy, we are seeing a growing number of women heading large businesses in the automotive sector, what can we do to get them to market the Fellowship to their colleagues?
A. My immediate response to this is raise awareness. I wasn’t aware of the Fellowship myself until a great friend of mine suggested it would be a good fit for me, and as soon as I understood what the Fellowship represented and the opportunities to retain connections that it brought, I couldn’t wait to join! I think if we ensure that any woman heading up a large business in the sector is made aware of us, they will surely want to extend the benefits of membership to their colleagues.
Q. Sarah, as you know we have a range of Events each year, and these are usually well supported. Any new ideas for events that would appeal to our lady members and where we can involve partners?
A. One of my favourite organisations is the Coachmakers Livery company. Whilst most members are male, the partners are often willing to join our social activities where the appeal is universal. For example, trips to the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace are extremely popular as are an occasional trip to the Races. We very carefully consider our programme of events and are tasking ourselves to be mindful of what will appeal to members and their partners, so progress is slow, but headed in the right direction. We need to make sure we keep the message constant and consistent. We want you!
Q. Nancy, now that you have been involved with the committee for nearly a year what are your first impressions?
A. I love it. From day 1 discussing our relationship with BEN, another great industry body concerned with the welfare of current and ex automotive employees, and our ideas of how to make membership of the Fellowship more appealing to women as an option, it has been great. Everyone on the committee cares passionately about our members getting benefit from their membership and we are always looking at different opportunities to bring in these benefits. I feel at home.
Q. Sarah, female membership has improved quite substantially in the last 12 months, but still only represents about 4% of the total, so a lot more to do! But we agreed that we should not “force feed” diversity. That said what more can we do from a PR perspective?
A. Some of the committee have made great strides with increasing our social media profile and I think this should be continued. Beyond this there has been some great support from some of the large dealer groups HR teams to spread the word to people in their networks who may be reducing their hours or heading towards retirement. This we need to build on across the sector. The Automotive 30% Club, focussing on increasing gender balance across senior leadership in the automotive industry is also another avenue for us to build dialogue with. I think we need to consider a planned campaign for 2025 across as many mediums, including the trade press.
Q. Nancy, historically the Fellowship membership was almost 100% men which partly reflected the profile of the industry going back 50/60 years. This profile has of course changed but could still deter some women from joining. Would you agree and if so, what more can we do?
A. I don’t believe that the mix of men to women in the Fellowship would be a deterrent. After all, we chose this industry as a career and have worked in a male dominated environment quite happily, so that shouldn’t put anyone off. Approaching or in retirement however, I wouldn’t be keen to join an industry body unless I knew people who are already members, or I could see some benefits for me in joining, so I think I’d just reiterate that we need to continue to raise awareness wherever possible. As Sarah has already mentioned, our events calendar is key! Whilst a lot of ladies in the industry may be happy with classic car related events, we do need to be mindful of offering different options to appeal to all! I think all our events should hold appeal for men and women.
Q. Sarah and Nancy, finally an open question to both of you what is the best thing about the Fellowship, and with some trepidation I should ask the one thing we need to change! (hopefully not the Chair!!)
A. Sarah. This question made me laugh, I wouldn’t dare say we need to change the Chair, as I’ve always been a Peter Cottle fan. The best thing for me is the dedication of the dozen or so people who do all the work behind the scenes, in their own time and at their own cost. It’s wonderful to see all the effort into organising, the newsletters, membership communication and events. I love seeing people enjoy the Fellowship and comradery that membership can bring for those that get involved. As for the one thing we need to change, well, for me that’s easy, the number of members that keep thinking they will join in but don’t quite manage. I’d say, just try one event in 2025, I think you will be pleasantly surprised
A. Nancy. Like Sarah, I’m a PC fan too, so no change needed there! I think I’ve already alluded to the best thing about the Fellowship in my opinion, and that’s the ability to continue long term friendships and as proved to me from my early days in membership, make new ones!! The one thing I think we should try to change if possible is any mistaken view someone may have from the outside looking in that we are an ‘old boys’ network…. We are far from that. Our membership contains some fabulous people from the industry and provides lovely opportunities to socialise and enjoy each other’s company. We welcome new members with open arms. Raising awareness is the way forward.