| Americas, Asia, UK & Europe | Articles
As this year’s International Womens Day focuses on the theme of ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world’ and we reflect on the value of a highly engaged, diverse team, we spent some time with Rebecca Thorpe, Head of Bovill Asia, discussing her career, ambitions and advice for aspiring women around the world.
What was your route to becoming a member of Bovill’s Global Board?
A 2017 Harvard article I found myself reading recently suggests that most companies add women to their boards either at board founding, or at critical developmental points like an IPO or fundraising. The latter (although I am trying not to be cynical) sounds rather like corporates may be adding women to their boards to please external stakeholders or for PR.
Finding a business that shared my values as I continued to grow and develop was also really important. While there is great representation of women at Bovill, with two thirds of our Managing Consultants female and rising through the ranks, what’s really inspired me over the last 15 years is the broader culture of the business in supporting and nurturing talent, regardless of background, gender or ethnicity. After I had served a number of years here our CEO offered me a position on the board as I had demonstrated a desire and capability to further the growth of the business in new and exciting areas.
Why did Bovill decide to open offices in Singapore and Hong Kong?
That’s an easy one: it was client demand led. Anyone in our industry knows that compliance is increasingly becoming both more complex and more global, and many of our clients have been setting up international offices for some time. We knew it was important to have a presence in Asia, and in 2015 we chose Singapore as the location for our own first international office. This was quickly followed by setting up Hong Kong two years later, to make sure we could cover both locations that firms tend to select as their Asia hub, but also to be able to service local clients in our areas of specialism. There has been huge change even in the short time we have been here, and yet we still see both locations as important to our growth strategy.
What drove your decision personally to move there?
The opportunity for personal growth is greatest the deeper out of your comfort zone you put yourself. Although I had been involved in the early stage of growth of Bovill in London when it was still a small company, I had never built anything on my own. So in that respect it seemed a natural next challenge. That’s not to say I did it completely solo- one of the greatest reasons I am still at Bovill and coming up for my 15th year here is that I respect and love working with the people alongside me. That along with the opportunity to travel and explore new cultures and learn new things are big drivers for me.
What have you enjoyed most about building the Bovill Asia business?
I have to say, almost every moment of it! Every hard won client, every good (OK admittedly and sometimes bad!) hiring decision, every new experience and new client business to learn about… it is not easy entering a new country with very little brand recognition and few resources, but the satisfaction in having happy clients and teams that are lovely to work with makes it all worthwhile.
What would you say to colleagues who were thinking about a similar upheaval?
Go for it, without hesitation. As soon as you step out of your familiar territory, you gain healthy new perspective as well as instantly gain new insights into your own country but also about yourself. You also realise how small the world actually is. It never ceases to amaze me that familiar friendly faces and contacts from years ago in London can re-appear all over the world. And I can let you into a secret, what keeps a regulator happy in one country is likely to keep a regulator happy in another country, so don’t feel concerned that your expertise gained so far would be wasted. However, do be prepared to learn, and fast!
What advice would you give to young women starting their career?
It helps to be determined and have a long term view (I have always been a consultant, first with Deloitte and then Bovill) but at the same time, don’t beat yourself up too badly if things don’t go exactly according to plan! I found you have to put in a lot of hard work before the recognition is forthcoming, but it does come eventually so make sure the hard work doesn’t go unnoticed. So far I still haven’t found anything I can’t do if I really set my mind to it, still searching on that one. It definitely shouldn’t make any difference if you are a women or a man in terms of fulfilling your career ambitions, and so I think my advice is the same for a young man starting their career.
The IWD 2021 campaign theme is #ChooseToChallenge, and one of Bovill’s values is “embrace challenge”. What do you do each day to ensure that challenge is encouraged and welcomed within the teams you lead?
Being completely honest, I have found the times around my two lovely children joining our family to be the most challenging from a career perspective, first when my son was born and secondly when we adopted. So I learnt the hard way the importance of balancing everyone’s needs, and I’m not sure I have always got it right, but my family are very forgiving (luckily). So as a result I encourage my teams to ‘work hard and play hard’, and I very much welcome flexibility in face of challenge (whether that be the time of day you need to graft or the location).
To see the latest developments from Rebecca and the Asia team, you can view their latest insights, or if you’re inspired to work with us, check out our careers area.
