Riverstone Chair Penny Hughes CBE on diversity

Bisnow’s annual Women Leading Real Estate conference, the leading celebration of the diverse talent within the property sector, took place on 9 September, featuring an on-stage interview with Riverstone Chair Penny Hughes CBE.

Penny took to the stage alongside many of the industry’s top innovators and influencers, talking about how women have driven change and thrived during these unprecedented times.

During her interview with Jane Edwarde, Head of Real Estate at Slaughter & May, Penny shared her joy at the progressive change in workplace culture since the early 90s, when she was one of only a handful of female board members, as President of Coca Cola’s operations in the UK and Ireland at the age of 32.  She then talked the audience through her impressive portfolio of directorships, building on her consumer retail experience to encompass technology, media, financial services and most recently real estate.

Penny’s views on what has helped bring about better representation of women in leadership roles was echoed by others throughout the conference.  Speakers emphasised the importance of saying yes to key opportunities, mentoring and reverse mentoring and having honest conversations around workplace issues that are specific to women.

To achieve further progress, according to Penny and her fellow advocates, corporates should take diversity to heart and really believe in the benefits, going “the extra mile to create environments where different backgrounds and perspectives are embraced.”

Penny explained that recruitment at Riverstone has reached an “exciting moment” with the size of the workforce set to grow significantly in the run up to the openings of Riverstone Fulham and Riverstone Kensington next year.  She shared how Riverstone has an opportunity to ensure that diversity is front and centre of decision-making from the outset and to ensure that the team reflects London, where many residents already live and work.

There was a strong sense that Riverstone and the other leading businesses present see diversity as part of the wider responsible business movement, where progress is made by working together and where social and environmental achievements are taken as just a strong an indicator of success as the bottom line.