The Notebook: Championing women in sport goes further than just the game

Where the City’s brightest get a few things off their chest. Today, Susie Logan, chief marketing officer at Royal London, takes the Notebook pen.

Supporting women’s sport

Being one of three ambitious and determined sisters, I’m passionate about championing equality, so I’m excited to see the Women’s Six Nations kicking off this weekend, and even more thrilled it is being broadcast on the BBC. 

While progress is being made, there are still systemic issues that need to be addressed to fully level the playing field in sport for women. Women In Sport research found that in 2023 only eight per cent of sports TV coverage was of women’s events. 

Billie Jean King, the former world Number 1 tennis player and advocate for gender equality, famously said “you need to see it to be it”. This was demonstrated clearly when, in the summer of 2022, the England Lionesses created an undeniable legacy at the Euros, reaching a peak audience of 17.4m for the final. The team’s epic win, and associated support, created a ‘Lioness effect’ which resulted in 1,500 new women and girls’ football teams being registered in 2022-23, the largest increase in seven years. 

In 2021, through my role at Royal London, we sponsored the British and Irish Lions Men’s tour, and during our partnership we asked the question ‘why isn’t there a women’s tour?’. The discussions that followed resulted in a feasibility study funded by Royal London which concluded a women’s tour was possible and in January this year it was announced that the first British and Irish Lions Women’s Tour will be happening in 2027. Royal London is proud to be the founding partner. Women and girls now have an exciting new goal to work towards and the opportunity to wear the famous ‘red jersey’.

We can all play our part in supporting women’s sport and creating the demand for the greater exposure it needs to inspire future generations. So, whichever nation or sport you’ll be rooting for, I hope you’ll join me in supporting our female athletes by tuning in with your family or, even better, buying tickets and experiencing the excitement in person.

The power of co-operatives

Rochdale was in the news recently owing to the by-election. The town was also making headlines 180 years ago. In 1844, a group of artisans, the Rochdale Pioneers, pooled their scarce resources to open a shop selling basic food items. This was the birth of the modern co-operative movement, which last year turned over £1.9 trillion globally. I was heartened that on the same day as the by-election, Labour committed to double the size of the co-op and mutuals sector. Mutuality and its customer driven values has the potential to make an even greater impact on society.

A visit close to home

Nearly half of us will experience cancer in our lifetime and, sadly, I personally experienced this life-shock recently through my son’s leukaemia diagnosis. Through our sponsorship, I have the privilege of working closely with Cancer Research UK and recently visited the Francis Crick Institute. It is mind-blowing to see firsthand the scale of investment and collaboration in pushing new frontiers of research to tackle cancer – something that, as the opening stat suggests, many of us will always be grateful for, including my family.

AI a communications gamechanger

The age of artificial intelligence disruption is firmly upon us. Financial services has long suffered from the challenge of communicating with customers in a world which, quite rightly, needs strong regulation – but generative AI is a gamechanger. It will allow businesses to overcome the barriers they have experienced in engaging customers at scale and help a larger population improve their financial understanding and build their financial resilience. Whatever your views on AI, like many technological developments over the past 30 years, it’s here to stay, and we must learn to use it to deliver positive change.

Quote of the week

“Be brave, be strong, speak up, and be yourself.” Shaunagh Brown, one of the first full-time professional women’s rugby players, who played for Harlequins and England

What I’ve been watching

As a proud but busy mum of two boys, like many families across the country, our family time is sacred. As difficult as it can be in our hectic lives, we make sure we protect our time together at all costs. Our staple family go to movies are the Harry Potter series. Life has been tough for our family recently and there is nothing better than losing yourself in the magical escapism of ‘Hogwarts’. And of course, we’d all welcome wizard powers, right? And, clearly of the Gryffindor variety.