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Desert Island Discs

Dame Helena Morrissey, financier and campaigner

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.413.7K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2020

⏱️ 36 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Dame Helena Morrissey is a former City fund manager and chief executive of a major investment company, who has also campaigned to boost the number of women in the boardroom. Newspapers regularly describe her as 'Superwoman', because alongside her many professional achievements, she's the mother of nine children. Helena Morrissey is the daughter of two teachers, and her drive was evident from an early age. She was - by her own admission - a 'manic Brownie', striving to gain the maximum number of badges, and she also played the piano to a high standard. She won a place at Cambridge University from her comprehensive school in Chichester, and on graduating, joined an asset management company in their New York office. On her return to London, she felt that she was denied promotion because she had a young baby. She moved to Newton Investment Management, and at the age of 35 she was appointed the CEO - a role she was not expecting to take. Under her leadership, the company's assets grew from £20 billion to £50 billion. In 2010 she established the 30% Club, campaigning for better female representation on the boards of British companies, and in 2017 she received a DBE for services to diversity in the financial sector. She lives in London with her husband Richard, who gave up full time work to look after their many children. DISC ONE: My Sweet Lord by George Harrison DISC TWO: Polonaise in A Flat, Op. 53, Heroic, composed by Frédéric François Chopin and performed by Arthur Rubenstein DISC THREE: We've Only Just Begun by The Carpenters DISC FOUR: Being Boring by Pet Shop Boys DISC FIVE: Moon River by Audrey Hepburn DISC SIX: Calm Down by The Clementines DISC SEVEN: Condolence by Benjamin Clementine DISC EIGHT: God Is by Kanye West BOOK CHOICE: Much Obliged, Jeeves by P. G .Wodehouse LUXURY ITEM: A grand piano CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: My Sweet Lord by George Harrison Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Cathy Drysdale

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts

0:04.6

Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Desert Island Disks podcast.

0:08.3

Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them

0:13.6

if they were cast away to a desert island. For right reasons, the music is shorter than the

0:18.8

original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening.

0:30.4

Music Radio Music

0:41.8

My cast away this week is Dame Helena Morrissey. One of the city of London's leading lights

0:46.4

she's globally renowned as a leader and changemaker. As a CEO, she oversaw a £30 billion

0:52.3

increase at her investment management company while building a reputation as someone who worked

0:57.2

differently. One of her first decisions was to offer everyone working there a four day week.

1:02.5

Later she founded the 30% club which recently achieved its titular target, boosting the

1:07.8

representation of women on UK boards. Alongside her career and campaigning, her aptitude for figures

1:14.5

comes in handy at home. She recently calculated that her family had gone through at least 148

1:20.3

birthday cakes since the eldest of her nine children was born. She says, if anyone had said to me

1:26.4

when I was a shy and gorky teenager that one day I would have nine children and be the chief executive

1:31.9

of an investment company and work on initiatives to drive gender equality, I would have laughed nervously.

1:38.6

Dame Helena Morrissey, welcome to Desert Island Discs. Thank you, Lauren. Thank you for having me.

1:42.6

It's a pleasure. So you've written that leaders today need to earn the right to lead, to inspire,

1:47.7

not to force. You're regarded as one of the world's top leaders. What is the key to inspiring people?

1:54.0

What I think starting with listening and understanding what's important to them and understand

1:58.8

that lots of us have aspirations. We want to achieve whatever we can in life. But I think,

2:04.4

you know, inspiring people to, that sounds cheesy, be the best version of themselves requires

...

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