CBI's Henrietta Jowitt: Companies with more diversity at the top perform better

Closing keynote at Women in Investment Festival

Businesses with a diverse executive team are likely to be more profitable than their peers by 33%, Henrietta Jowitt, deputy director-general, commercial at the CBI told delegates at the Women in Investment Festival on Tuesday (3 March).

In her closing keynote at the inaugural festival, Jowitt said: "The real argument isn't that women need business. The more powerful is the opposite… and hard facts don't lie. "Companies with more diversity at the top actually perform better." She added: "No business can afford to miss a chance to be 33% more profitable than their peers." During her speech to delegates at the festival, hosted by Investment Week at The Brewery in London, Jowitt noted that 2020 marks the 50th year of the Equal Pay Act but that "despite progress, we still have a long way to go", chiming with remarks ma...