23 November 2023
08:00 AM
Wells Fargo, 9th Floor, 33 King William St, London EC4R 9AT
Almost one million women have left a job because of menopause symptoms, according to research undertaken by Bupa in 2018. Last year the Fawcett Society reported, in addition to one in ten women who worked through the menopause leaving their job, many more are passing up promotions, reducing their hours or taking long-term leave in order to cope with the symptoms. UK businesses are leaving themselves exposed to the threat of losing their most experienced female talent.
Women over 50 are the fastest growing demographic in the workplace and investing in understanding the condition and promoting inclusivity gains employers a distinct advantage in attracting and retaining women at the top of their game. However, uncertainty on knowing the approach to take has often led to inaction.
The newly launched British Standard, BS 30416, Menstruation, menstrual health and menopause in the workplace – Guide, was developed to address this issue, providing employers with a free, practical toolkit and earlier this year the Government appointed the first Menopause Employment Champion to improve workplace support.
We are delighted to invite Real Estate Balance members and members of our Network of Networks organisations to Menopause at work, an event exploring how the menopause affects women, the impacts on the workplace and how business can develop an inclusive menopause culture.
Our speakers
Dr Sian Evans
GP specialising in women's health and menopause
Sian is an experienced medical practitioner having worked as a GP partner for 20 years in south London and led that practice as senior partner for a decade. She is also a GP trainer and appraiser. She has worked for the National Migraine Centre, a specialist migraine and headache clinic charity, regularly consulting with perimenopausal women displaying those symptoms. In addition, Sian is a menopause specialist and works for Clinic 51, a private, GP led women’s health and menopause service. She is passionate about providing excellent, evidenced based menopause care with a view to significantly improving quality of life for women in perimenopause and menopause. She also guides and educates virtually as @yourmenopausegp
Nicola Green
Commercial Director, Bupa Health Clinics
Nicola has over 27 years’ commercial and operational experience and has held several leadership roles within Bupa UKI Insurance. Nicola joined the Bupa Executive team within Health Services, where she is now responsible for client relationships and sales. Nicola has a specialist interest in how you can use data to drive intervention and reduce health risk, to promote wellbeing at work and create a positive working environment. Alongside this, Nicola is Business Sponsor for Bupa Global & UK’s Neurodiversity group, which focuses on creating a truly inclusive workplace where everyone is able to bring their whole selves to work.
Dr Sian Evans, a GP specialising in women's health and menopause, will discuss how to recognise peri-menopause and menopause symptoms, what is happening during this time, how to manage symptoms and access the right information and support.
Nicola Green, Commercial Director at Bupa Health Clinics, will discuss the impact of menopause in the workplace and the research that resulted in the development of the Bupa Menopause Plan. She will present guidance developed in partnership with the CIPD available for employers and managers and what the new British Standard means for employers.
Sian and Nicola will then join a panel to discuss personal experiences, the importance of menopause allyship in the workplace and what 'best in class’ looks like for employers before opening up to audience Q&A.
Our panelists
Sam McClary (Chair)
Editor, EG
Samantha McClary has almost 20 years’ experience in real estate and business journalism, covering a wide range of topics. Alongside making sure EG delivers the best, most helpful, most accurate and, of course, most interesting content to EG’s readership across all platforms – print, online and audio – she also plays a leading role in enabling and delivering a more diverse environment for the real estate community through EG’s REWIRE and tech initiatives. A keen chair and regular wearer of too bright trousers, she seeks to help keep panel discussions and events lively with audience participation and insightful questioning.
Cléo Folkes
Head of Investment Management Advisory, Social Value Portal
Cléo Folkes, a Dutch national, joined Social Value Portal in May 2023 as Head of Investment Advisory. Cléo has 30 years of wide range of experience encompassing many aspects of property investment, asset management, ESG, Social Value, research, strategy, consultancy and more. Her current focus is on all aspects of social value on existing property assets within Europe, but Cléo has worked across asset types and global regions, as well as equity and debt. She has been an advocate for D, E & I for many years and is also an advocate for those suffering from effects of the peri-menopause. She speaks fluent English, Dutch and German. Cléo holds an MA in Economic Geography and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).
Nicola Free
Head of CRE, EMEA, Wells Fargo
Nicola Free is head of Commercial Real Estate, EMEA for Wells Fargo where she is focused on expanding the CRE platform in EMEA, enhancing capital markets capabilities and driving forward a client centric CRE strategy to in Region and US based clients .
Nicola has more than 20 years of experience in capital markets and commercial real estate, and has held a variety of senior leadership roles with notable institutions such as HSBC, AIG, GE Real Estate, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She is also a qualified lawyer and is a Board member of CREFC.
Nicola is also passionate about promoting diversity in the workplace. Throughout her career, she has led various talent management initiatives to support gender balance and social mobility.
Theresa Winters
Senior Manager, Employee Experience for Santander UK
Theresa Winters is an experienced HR leader with a passion for creating cultures where individuals can truly thrive. Her current role is Senior Manager, Employee Experience for Santander UK. Theresa also leads the menopause programme of support at Santander which started in 2019. This includes awareness and understanding, leader and manager support, trained menopause advocates, masterclass webinars, support group sessions and practical clinical guidance for those going through menopause. Theresa is a passionate and active advocate for increased support for menopause at work, both within Santander and beyond with other employers in the UK and her work to do this was individually recognised in 2022 at the first Menopause Friendly Employer awards.
Registration and breakfast from 8am for an 8.30am prompt start. The discussion will close at around 9.30am and be followed by an opportunity to network over coffee.
If you would like to attend, please request a place using the button above.