’Under her leadership, female representation in senior finance roles has risen,’ says chancellor
Aviva chief executive Amanda Blanc was invited to meet chancellor Rachel Reeves for her efforts in increasing senior female representation in the financial services industry.
Blanc was appointed by the government as its Women in Finance Champion five years ago, with the role supporting the Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter.
Her tenure saw senior female representation in key finance roles jump from 32% to 36%, with the government saying that Blanc led “the charge on strengthening the pipeline for women into financial services”.
After stepping down from the role in December 2025, Blanc was invited to meet Reeves yesterday (26 January 2026) at the Treasury. She was joined by her successor, Nationwide Building Society chief executive Debbie Crosbie.
”When I became chancellor, I said I would judge the success of my time in office on whether more young women and girls knew there were no ceiling on their ambitions,” Reeves said in a LinkedIn post.
”The Women in Finance Charter does that by committing financial services firms to increasing the number of women in senior roles through measurable action.
”Today, I invited Dame Amanda Blanc to the Treasury to thank her for five great years as Women in Finance Champion.
”Under her leadership, female representation in senior finance roles has risen and new data released by EY shows that since 2020, the UK is the only country where financial service companies have narrowed the boardroom gender pay gap.”
’Proud of the progress’
The EY data Reeves is referring to was published yesterday, with it showing that the gender pay gap on UK insurance company boards dropped from 28% in 2020 to just 3% in 2024.
Read: UK insurance boards slash gender pay gap
Read: Gender pay gaps at UK insurers revealed – the best and worst performers
Explore more diversity and inclusion-related stories here, or discover more news here
It also said that UK financial services firms are moving “faster than their transatlantic peers to narrow the board-level gender pay gap”.
After stepping down from her role as Women in Finance Champion, Blanc said: ”I am incredibly proud of the progress made during my time as Women in Finance Champion.
“There is still plenty more to do to reach parity and I know that Debbie will be a powerful driving force in bringing about further progress and ensuring even more talented women are given the opportunities they deserve to thrive and lead.”
His career began in 2019, when he joined a local north London newspaper after graduating from the University of Sheffield with a first-class honours degree in journalism.
He took up the position of deputy news editor at Insurance Times in March 2023, before being promoted to his current role in May 2024.View full Profile
Hosted by comedian and actor Tom Allen, 34 Gold, 23 Silver and 22 Bronze awards were handed out across an amazing 34 categories recognising brilliance and innovation right across the breadth of UK general insurance.
No comments yet