{"id":968501,"date":"2026-05-18T10:17:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/968501\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T10:17:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:17:16","slug":"wacl-hosts-scotlands-biggest-female-leadership-event-as-gender-pay-gap-widens-the-nen-north-edinburgh-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/968501\/","title":{"rendered":"WACL hosts Scotland\u2019s biggest female leadership event as gender pay gap widens \u2013 The NEN \u2013 North Edinburgh News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

WACL (Women in Advertising & Communications Leadership) brought together some of the UK\u2019s and Scotland\u2019s most influential female leaders last week as the WACL Festival of Talent arrived in Edinburgh for the first time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The event comes at a pivotal moment for gender equality in business. The mean gender pay gap in Scotland rose to 10% in 2025, up from 8.3% in 2024 and 6.4% in 2023. Female owned businesses already contribute an estimated \u00a38.8bn annually to the Scottish economy, yet the proportion of women led employer businesses has fallen from 23% in 2021 to just 16% today, according to Women\u2019s Enterprise Scotland.<\/p>\n

Research also shows female CEO representation across the UK has dropped sharply from 28% in 2022\/23 to 19% in 2024, highlighting growing concern around the progression and retention of women in senior\u00a0leadership roles.<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, the WACL Festival of Talent, taking place at The Hoxton, Edinburgh, brought together senior leaders, entrepreneurs and creatives for a one day leadership accelerator focused on helping women build confidence, resilience, influence and stronger professional networks in a rapidly changing business environment.<\/p>\n

Part of WACL\u2019s largest ever national programme marking the Festival\u2019s 30th anniversary, events will take place simultaneously across London, Manchester, Edinburgh and online, with the ambition of engaging more than 650 women nationwide.<\/p>\n

The expansion marks a formal commitment from WACL to grow its presence beyond London into Scotland and the North of England for the first time in its 102 year history, reflecting the organisation\u2019s ambition to build stronger regional leadership networks and support female talent across the UK.<\/p>\n

Speakers in Edinburgh included\u00a0Claire Sadler, President of WACL and Chief Marketing Officer at the British Heart Foundation; Corinne Hutton, author and entrepreneur; Sheryl Findlay, international coach; Nishma Patel Robb, Founder and CEO of Glittersphere; Sharon Lloyd Barnes, Head of Commercial Operations at the Advertising Association; Sophie Devonshire, CEO of The Marketing Society; Stef Sword Williams, author; Gemma Atkinson, Chief People Officer; Zoe Howarth, Non Executive Director; Rania Robinson, Co Founder and Partner at Quiet Storm; Emma Isaac, former CMO of Virgin Money; Sam Baker, editor and broadcaster; Melissa Robertson, Non Executive Director; and Georgie Jones, poet.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The Edinburgh event also included\u00a0speed mentoring sessions with WACL members and senior female leaders, alongside networking opportunities designed to help attendees build meaningful professional connections.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Juliet Simpson, Chair WACL Scotland said: \u201cThe reality is that progress for women in leadership is not guaranteed and in several areas we\u2019re seeing signs of regression rather than acceleration.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOur first WACL Scotland Festival of Talent reflects the changing nature of leadership today, less linear, more complex, and increasingly shaped by influence, relationships and values led decision making. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about equipping women with the relationships, confidence, language and practical tools that help power and influence compound over time to ultimately drive change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claire Sadler, WACL President added: \u201cThirty years after the Festival of Talent first launched, the need for spaces that actively support women\u2019s progression remains incredibly urgent.<\/strong> The data shows there is still significant work to do to achieve genuine equality in leadership, particularly at senior levels.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted to be bringing the Festival to Edinburgh for the first time as part of WACL\u2019s commitment to growing our influence and support networks beyond London into Scotland and are thrilled with the response we\u2019ve had.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Festival exists to help women build confidence, skills and networks at every stage of their careers and to remind the industry that diverse leadership is better for business, innovation and economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WACL (Women in Advertising & Communications Leadership) brought together some of the UK\u2019s and Scotland\u2019s most influential female…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":968502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-968501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116595068899985036","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=968501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/968501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/968502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=968501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=968501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=968501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}