The Women and Work APPG provides a forum to constructively examine and debate the role that policy makers can play to deliver gender balance within the economy.
About the Group
While in recent years we have seen a change in the way that UK businesses work to increase the number of women recruited into the workforce, women still face financial hardship and barriers when it comes to employment. The issue is not just about getting women into work but ensuring retention of female employees by rapidly improving workplace systems and infrastructures to enable women to thrive. We aim to take an intersectional approach to women in the workplace, enabling all women to succeed and be valued in their chosen area of work.
This year, the APPG will explore the intersection of AI and technology with women’s participation in the workforce, a critical and timely theme given the government's focus on tech and AI as drivers of growth and innovation.
So let’s take a glance at the current situation:
As of April 2024, the UK gender pay gap among full-time employees stood at 7.0%, a slight decrease from 7.5% in April 2023. This means that, on average, women earned 93% of what men earned per hour. Over the past decade, this gap has narrowed by approximately 25%.
Recent studies suggest that progress toward closing the gender pay gap is slow. A 2025 report projects that, at the current rate, pay equality may not be achieved until 2065. Additionally, research by the Office for National Statistics suggests that the percentage of women employed in tech in the UK declined by 3,000 between the first and second quarters of 2023. Projections suggest that, without significant intervention, it could take 283 years to achieve gender parity in the tech workforce.
These statistics highlight the need to act now, showing the ever more important work of this APPG.
Ultimately, only by addressing the challenges and costs faced can we help ensure women don’t get penalised financially further and can pave the way for women in the workplace to be treated as valued employees.
We welcome all to our discussions to advocate for this positive change.
Officers
Co Chair: Catherine Fookes MP
Catherine Fookes has served as the Member of Parliament for Monmouthshire since the 2024 General Election.
She was educated at Middlesex Polytechnic and the University of Bath. Before entering politics, she worked in the advocacy and charity sector, including in roles at ActionAid, Sustain, and the Organic Trade Board. She also served as CEO of the Women's Equality Network Wales (WEN Wales). During her time as CEO of WEN Wales between 2017 to 2023, Fookes lead the Diverse5050 campaign, which resulted in the Welsh Government committing to legally binding gender quotas, making Wales the first UK nation to do so. She also secured Welsh Government support for incorporating the UN’s CEDAW convention into Welsh law to protect women’s rights.
Fookes began her political career in 2022 when she won a seat on Monmouthshire County Council. She later resigned from her role in 2023 after being selected as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Monmouthshire. Shortly following her election to Parliament, she was appointed to the Women and Equalities Select Committee. Fookes is also Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women and Work.
Co Chair: Baroness Brady
Baroness Brady was appointed to the House of Lords as a Conservative life peer in 2014. Her work spans across business, sports, and media, and she is known for her advocacy of women in leadership roles.
Baroness Brady is a former managing director of Birmingham City F.C., the current vice-chairman of West Ham United F.C., and an aide to Alan Sugar on The Apprentice. At age 23, she was appointed Managing Director of Birmingham City F.C. becoming the first woman to hold such a post in the top flight of English football. Under her leadership, West Ham has become one of the five fastest-growing brands in world football.
Baroness Brady has long advocated for women in business. She encourages successful women to mentor and support younger women to help them progress in their careers. She believes in creating opportunities for women to develop the confidence to aim for leadership roles and emphasizes the importance of diversifying boards by including female entrepreneurs. Baroness Brady also famously stated that companies without women on their boards should explain why to shareholders.
Prior to being appointed to the House of Lords, she was a Government Business Ambassador between 2013 to 2016.
A full list of APPG Members can be found here.
Information on all the group’s officers can be found here.
Contact the Group
Connect provide the Secretariat to the Group on behalf of the Group sponsors. For information on Connect’s clients, please visit the PRCA Register.
If you have any questions or would like to find out more about the APPG, please contact us on 0207 592 9592 or email at womenandworkappg@connectpa.co.uk.
This is not an official website [or Feed] pf parliament. It has not been approved by either House. APPGs are informal groups of Parliamentarians with a common interest in particular issues. The views expressed are those of the group.
Upcoming events: Empowering women in STEM: skills for the future
Date: Tuesday 6 May
Time: 10:00 - 11:00
Venue: Meeting Room M, Portcullis House, Westminster and via Zoom
This session will focus on empowering women in STEM to develop their skills for the future. While progress has been made in increasing female participation in STEM, women remain underrepresented in many technical fields, particularly in engineering, computing, and AI. Addressing this gap requires a coordinated approach across education, training, and industry to ensure women have both access to opportunities and the support to advance in their careers.
Future sessions include (more to be announced):
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Entrepreneurship and Investment: breaking barriers for female founders
Tuesday 17 June, from 10:00-11:00 in Room M, Portcullis House
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Making industry work for women
Tuesday 8 July, from 10:00-11:00 in Room M, Portcullis House
We will also be holding the following session with Assystem as an offshoot of the APPG’s work to mark International Women in Engineering Day:
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Women in Engineering
Monday 23 June, from 2:00 to 5:00 at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, One Birdcage Walk, Westminster, SW1H 9JJ (Manufacturing Room)
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Group Sponsors
The Group is supported by a range of organisations across the business world who help fund the running of the Group via its secretariat, Connect.
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the Group please contact:
womenandworkappg@connectpa.co.uk.
