Walpole: What does your role entail, and how long have you been doing it?
Helen Brocklebank: I celebrated nine years at Walpole a couple of weeks ago. Leading Walpole is a real privilege because it allows me to champion an extraordinary sector of the UK economy. British luxury is built on creativity, craftsmanship and remarkable people nationwide and my role is to bring those voices together, represent and advocate for the industry with government and elsewhere and create opportunities for businesses, and the talent within them, to thrive. What gets me up in the morning is playing my part in shining a light on the people and skills behind the very best brands in Britain.
What’s your career background and what makes you passionate about what you do?
I built my career in luxury publishing, working at the intersection of creativity and commerce. I’m a creative problem solver and I believe that there’s no opportunity that can’t be maximised or problem that can’t be solved if only you bring the right people around the right table: happily that's a fundamental part of how Walpole works to support its members.
Can you tell us about a woman who you look up to regarding your work?
The ‘Letters between Sisters’ lunch we held earlier this week at The Berkeley in anticipation of International Women's Day gave me the opportunity to tell my sister how she has always made me better in everything I do, not least at work. More broadly, I’m enormously lucky in my role to be surrounded by extraordinary women, and I’ve benefitted tremendously from their example as well as their counsel: it’s inspiring and motivating to be able to witness their drive and ingenuity, and I’m always learning.
What’s a significant obstacle for women in your industry or the wider luxury sector that you feel isn’t talked about enough - and why is it important to highlight?
As Ernest Shackleton once wrote, "Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all" – but I do believe we should press the accelerator button on gender parity in the luxury C-suite. Women make up 60% of luxury consumers worldwide, yet at best they’re on average 40% of the C-suite. MIT economists found that moving to a 50:50 gender balance could increase profit in a business by 41%, and in a tighter luxury market there’s not only a moral imperative to reach for gender parity, but an economic one too.
What advice would you have to other women following your career path that would have helped you when starting out?
Your career is a marathon and not a sprint. I talk to so many women in their thirties who somehow feel their career has a sell-by date and the pressure is on to reach the top/get married/have children all within a single decade of a four-decade career span. Pace yourself. The second twenty years of your career will be even better than the first.
What does success look like to you?
Success is feeling excited, committed and passionate about my mission at Walpole every single day.
