Dear Editor,
I received the annual report 2012, for Banks DIH entitled ‘The New Frontier.’ In it we see as usual a very prominent picture of the directors of the company. It is a clear picture in a new pose; a good strategy I thought, as it shows progress, the directors presumably striding forward into the future.
What is not new however and certainly not progressive is that the directors are all male; men in black and blue and grey suits. It has been a great many years since a woman has been part of the directorate of this company and this is so strikingly portrayed. Every year, the picture is there, men only.
Always, always men. Never a woman, never a single woman in a black or blue or grey suit (or a dress for that matter). Can it be possible that with so many brilliant and competent women in our country, not a single one is good enough to be part of that august body, to lend her expertise to the fulfilment of its vision?
As you read this, the Annual General Meeting scheduled for January 19, 2013 would have been held at which the usual motion would have been put: that the retiring directors being eligible, offer themselves for election and that the directors be elected en bloc. As usual, the ayes would have carried the vote and so there we have it, the all male directorate will continue.
The vision, the ‘New Frontier’ we see is one without a single woman at the helm. Men in black and blue and grey suits. When will women be given once again equal status as directors of this company?
Yours faithfully,
Joan Collins
