Hello and welcome to our podcast series Centre Stage.

I'm Lena Seigle, a director and part of the coaching team at Bladenmore.

In Centre Stage, we'll tackle the issues that business communicators face,

from investor and bank communications to ESG to

employee engagement. In light of World Menopause Day on the 18th of October, this episode

will look at what companies are doing to support colleagues experiencing the menopause in

the workplace. According to a 2017 UK government report on menopause,

menopausal women are the fastest growing demographic in the workforce.

One third of the workforce is over 50.

The taboo around discussing the menopause, particularly in the workplace, is starting to break.

But there's still a long way to go in terms of providing the right support in the workplace

for affected employees.

Joining us today, we have Sue Todd, the CEO of NABS, Carol Ann Mnashie, Global Head of Inclusion

at HSBC, Nicola Davidson, Vice President Corporate Communications and Corporate Responsibility at Arslau Mittal, and Victoria Mackenzie Gould, Corporate Affairs Director from M&S.

Welcome everybody and thanks very much for joining us today.

So Sue, you are the CEO of NABS and it's a support organisation for the advertising

and media industry.

That's right.

And we've had some fantastic campaigns from Channel 4 looking at supporting menopause and raising awareness.

How do you think the industry is doing in providing support for employees?

I mean, I think advertising and media is really important for cultural and social change.

I think we are drivers of that.

...