Last year we agreed a bank-wide target of ensuring 30% of roles at executive and senior management grades are held by women by 2020. I was happy to go on record and say that we need aspirational targets to tackle head on our current gender imbalance.

Targets alone are not enough to drive a major cultural shift but by having a clear target on record, not just internally but out in the market, ensures we will be held accountable. It is a challenge for us; just over half of our employees are women. In clerical jobs, the percentage is 67%, but the proportion of executive roles held by women at RBS is 20%. Whilst there has been a lot of debate about increasing female board representation at non-executive director level - my focus is on building a pipeline throughout the organisation and getting more women at Executive levels.

The journey starts at the point of entry and our target is to recruit 50% women. To support women's progression from there we consider a diverse group of candidates for all vacancies. We have refined our approach to recruitment and promotion. We are measuring our line managers on the decisions they make, ensuring they understand the business case for inclusion and apply the right lens when considering their options. It is in their performance objectives and they will be measured against it.

We don't do these things to tick the gender box. We do them because it's the right thing to do, it has a tangible impact and is a vital ingredient for business success.

distributed by