Accenture has pledged its support for Be Inspired by becoming its exclusive consulting partner, lending its expertise to the Retail Week campaign.

Be Inspired aims to empower women to reach leadership roles in retail and promote the importance of female leadership, and the partnership with Accenture will allow Retail Week to develop the scope of its campaign and workshops.

Accenture’s Be Inspired ambassadors are retail managing director Jill Ross and Helen Mountney, managing director of Kurt Salmon, part of Accenture Strategy. They will both appear at masterclasses and workshops, sharing their experiences and expertise with delegates.

Ross said: “The retail industry is a major employer of female talent and as the exclusive consulting partner for the Be Inspired campaign we are excited to play a key role in helping to support women’s professional goals and aspirations to achieve gender balance at all levels, including a greater representation of women in senior retail leadership positions.”

‎Mountney added: “At Accenture we are committed to attracting and developing future female leaders, something we see as critical to being a high-performance business. We look forward to understanding and addressing the barriers to inclusion for women in retail boardrooms”.

Managing director of Retail Week and World Retail Congress Chris Brook-Carter said: “We’re absolutely delighted that Accenture is on board as Be Inspired’s exclusive consulting partner.

“Their world-class expertise will allow us to expand the scope of our ever-popular masterclasses and mentoring sessions.

“Accenture and Retail Week share a common ambition: we want to help women achieve their potential by tackling our industry’s persistent gender inequality.

“Be Inspired has achieved great things since its launch 18 months ago and we’re incredibly excited that Accenture have decided to support its growth over the next year.”

 

Be Inspired aims to champion women leaders in retail by recruiting prominent retail leaders, both male and female, as ambassadors.

There are now more than 50 Be Inspired ambassadors, with many of the most senior figures in retail such as John Lewis managing director Paula Nickolds and M&S boss Steve Rowe signing up to support the campaign.

Be Inspired’s biggest-ever conference is taking place on Tuesday, November 14 at 200 Aldersgate. Speakers include Ikea’s UK and Ireland manager Gillian Drakeford and Boots UK managing director Elizabeth Fagan.