THE UK Government has announced plans to make large businesses calculate the pay gap between their male and female employees, starting next year, with this information being made public in 2018. Leaving the effectiveness or otherwise of league tables to one side for a moment, it seems staggering that 46 years after the Equal Pay Act was passed, legislation is still required aimed at tackling the gap between male and female pay, which currently stands at an average of 20 per cent in the UK. In some sectors, it is even worse, with a report last year from the Law Society in Scotland revealing a massive 42 per cent pay gap between men and women in the Scottish legal profession.

Yes, the Government has set out to work with FTSE 100 businesses to increase the number of female directors but while the initial target of 25 per cent has been met overall, the picture remains mixed across sectors, with women making up a far higher percentage of board roles in retail than in engineering, for example. Indeed in some sectors, such as digital, the proportion of female directors has actually fallen in recent years.

There are many reasons why businesses, and society, need to do more to tackle this shortfall. For me, the principle reason is one of competitiveness. Scottish businesses are not realising their potential if the opportunities open to the talents of half of our population are limited. Women have unique perspectives and experiences that they can bring to bear in any business and multi-skilled, diverse teams at the top have a proven track record in delivering bottom line success. Many of our competitor nations are already far more effective than us in ensuring gender equality, with the Scandinavian countries leading the world alongside such diverse nations as Ireland, the Philippines and New Zealand.

I believe that the long term solution for Scotland lies in our small and medium sized businesses. We need to see more businesses being created by women in Scotland and more women playing a leading role in our existing businesses. Women have a key role to play in supporting each other in this journey and mentoring is an effective tool to foster confidence and success. Our governments need to act too to ensure that childcare solutions are in place to deliver effective solutions tailored to modern working patterns.

Until we value all of our talents more fairly and on their merits, we will not deliver to our full potential as an economy.