Jo Whitfield: Co-op's trailblazing 'Grocery Girl'

My goodness - I never thought that would be me.” Jo Whitfield is remembering her reaction to the media coverage that surrounded her appointment as Co-op Food CEO almost two years ago. It was a landmark appointment that saw her become the first female boss of a major UK grocer. The first and, so far, only one.

It’s a gaping hole in diversity at the top of grocery that Whitfield is now looking to help fill as the driving force behind Grocery Girls - a new network aimed at arming women in the industry with the tools they need to further successful careers.

As one of the most high-profile women in grocery retail, Whitfield believes she is duty bound to help others follow in her footsteps. “I’ve now got an opportunity and a responsibility to try and open that route more for other people.”

Whitfield is set to host the inaugural Grocery Girls event at the Co-op’s Angel Square HQ in Manchester next week (27 February). In the future she is hoping to run around three or four events a year and would like to see future events take place within the offices of rival retailers or major suppliers. Crucially, Grocery Girls is a not-for-profit organisation, which she sees as a key way of keeping costs down for members.

The prize, she says, is not just getting more women into top jobs - ultimately, it’s about driving more growth across the grocery sector.

“There are still not as many senior women in the industry as there could be. Only around 8% of the senior leadership roles in grocery are occupied by women and, given our customer base is so heavily female in terms of the end consumer, that difference feels very telling.

“There is lots of intelligence around the idea that when you’ve got a balanced business, with representation across all the genders and all the other reflections of inclusion, that ROI improves. That’s because you get all of the different pieces of insight, learning, ways of working, attitude and experiences all being contributed in the room, rather than just one way of looking at things.”

The trade, she explains, is right behind the initiative. “Interestingly, when we have spoken to leaders, CEOs in our supply chain and in other businesses, they have all said it’s great that we are looking to do something for our industry that brings all the talent together and helps it all come through.”

That includes the big four retailers, as well as Waitrose and large suppliers such as Molson Coors, Mars, 2 Sisters and Coca-Cola. However, Whitfield says it is just as important for smaller and medium-sized suppliers to become engaged - and many are indeed already showing plenty of interest.

At the same time, Whitfield is keen that the move is not seen as an attempt to champion women over men. “It’s about both women and men,” she insists. While the networking events will be only for women, Whitfield says the group’s website will look to serve as a portal for anyone looking to boost their career.

What’s in a name?

This, of course, brings us to the name. The use of the term ‘girls’ clearly has the potential to divide opinion - the name caused several Grocer staffers to bristle. Whitfield acknowledges it could be an issue, but is determined to stick to her guns on ‘Grocery Girls’.

“The reservations around using the term girls is an interesting one in itself,” she says. “For me and for all the women in the group, at some point in their career, even as mature women, we have been referred to as girls. This is often not in a way that is meant to offend but it can imply an immaturity or a lack of experience.

“But I see the word girls very positively and so does everyone in the group and actually one of the things we feel is there is an opportunity to reclaim the word ‘girl’. The fact that there are reservations about it we think is an opportunity and a challenge to restore people’s attitudes towards it.”

Whitfield highlights a recent industry event that featured a ‘Girls’ Lounge’. On the wall were definitions of what ‘girls’ were. These included words such as ‘strong, resilient, ambitious and talented’.

“That is exactly what we stand for and so I think we can use that word really strongly and powerfully and can cut-through with it and reclaim it.”

The network aims to achieve three things in the first instance, she continues. “We want it to be an opportunity for us to share experiences, role models and examples of people who have had strong careers in the industry. This will help inspire and energise others to believe these careers are available to them and to equip them with some of the knowledge and experiences that some of us have got the hard way, and help them travel a little quicker.

“We want it to be an opportunity for us to share experiences, role models and examples of people who have had strong careers”

“Secondly, we are going to use the forums and events to skill ourselves up, so we will make sure we’ve got speakers who can talk knowledgeably on topics that we think could unlock greater potential.

“Finally, we will provide networking opportunities that may lead to business opportunities. But through all of that we also want to have fun.”

While the challenge of getting more diverse boardrooms and leadership in the sector is certainly not a new one, Whitfield believes it is now more important than ever to get this project off the ground.

“I don’t think our industry has ever faced as much change as it does at the moment,” she says. “Whether you are a supplier or a retailer, we all need the best talent in the room if we are to build strong, sustainable businesses of the future. What Grocery Girls is there to do is create a really rich environment for female talent to come through so that all the best talent can be in the room in every business.”

In terms of the Co-op, Whitfield believes it has good representation at most levels of the business, but admits it could do even more. She also admits to feeling the pressure that comes with being a high-profile female leader to lower the ladder down for more women to climb up.

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“One of the things that came through when I was speaking to others was that there are some businesses in which one or two women have made it through and they then feel a duty of responsibility for all the other women in their organisation to be a role model.

“But they often feel the pressure that they are the only ones that are supposed to ‘help them’. That is what inspired me to say ‘why don’t we share?’ Because we can get all those women in one room and all the women in their organisations together. We can start to collaborate in a very different way.”

Starting next week, Whitfield is hoping that around 1,000 women a year will agree by signing up to the Grocery Girls events. Because although the name might divide, it’s clear the only way we’ll see another female boss at a major grocer is by working together.

Snapshot

Name: Jo Whitfield

Family: Married with two teenage sons

Potted CV: Started out as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young, then moved to Northern Foods before getting into retail at Matalan, Asda and then the Co-op three years ago.

Steepest learning curve: It was when I was made VP retail operations at George. It was an entirely new field but surrounded by a great team. I enjoyed the learning and the stretch.

Best advice you’ve received: Stay true to you, bring your best self to everything you do.

Hobbies: Live music and beaches.

Favourite book: Just Kids by Patti Smith.

Death row meal: Cheese & onion pie and chips.