Women make up 77% of the global events workforce, yet hold only 16% of leadership roles. The imbalance is well known, but the women driving this industry forward are still too often overlooked.
The 70% is a weekly series dedicated to changing that. Each instalment profiles a woman whose work, insight, and ambition shape the events sector – from emerging talent to established leaders. Through their stories, we explore the pathways, challenges, and perspectives defining what leadership looks like today.
This week we meet Clare Davies, sales and development manager at IET London Savoy Place and chair of the board of directors, Westminster Venue Collection.
How many years have you been in the events industry?
Forever! After completing my degree in Hospitality Management, I started a graduate job in a resort in Florida and have never left the industry. About 15 years ago I moved away from hotels and have since really enjoyed being able to focus on events rather than accommodation.
How do you balance professional growth with personal commitments, and do you think the industry is evolving in terms of work life balance?
Quite honestly, I found it very difficult being a full-time working mum. I didn’t feel prioritising my personal and family life was really an option back when my son was young. Thankfully we have seen improvements since, post COVID I believe there’s a desire to offer people a better balance. Particularly within the venue world, we are conscious of focusing on our people and their real lives, not just a balance sheet.
Working from home is now available for all office-based teams which is great for admin days. As my family is now older, I’ve been able to take on more professionally and I was very proud to be appointed Chair of the Westminster Venue Collection board in September 2025.
We’ve started hosting morning networking and educational events for the Westminster Venue Collection members rather than always after work, following feedback that not everyone can, nor wants to commit to evening events.
How do you see the events industry evolving in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion?
I feel encouraged we’re going in the right direction, even if we’ve still got a way to go. One of the most important shifts I’ve seen is a growing understanding of neurodivergence and the very real impact events can have on people. Things like sensory and social overwhelm are being talked about openly and as an industry, we’re learning how to adapt so more people feel welcomed, understood and comfortable at events.
Accessibility is becoming a core consideration rather than an afterthought, too. BSL interpreters, properly accessible venues, quiet spaces and braille shouldn’t be treated as ‘nice to haves’, I’d love to see them become the norm across the board. I’m also keen to see more diversity in the events themselves: in the topics we cover, speakers we platform and organisations we give a voice to. Being dynamic about formats and who we put in front of audiences helps us make sure events speak the right language to different generations, and to their differing needs.
It’s something we care deeply about at the IET; we spent a great deal of time creating our events code of conduct, which I’m proud of. We also recently published a guide on delivering inclusive events and we’d love to see organisations putting the advice into practice, you can read it here.
What advice would you give to young women looking to enter and succeed in the events industry?
Find a mentor and believe in your skills. I recently heard some great advice: every year, go through the process of applying for a new job. Not necessarily because you want to change role, more to make sure your skills are always developing and to remind you of your own worth. In events and in venues especially, lots of women dedicate many years of service to one organisation. If ever they are facing job loss or feeling ready to move on, it can feel daunting for them to put themselves out there once again. By going through this more regular process of applying for things, when the time and opportunity is right for a new venture, it doesn’t feel like such a massive step. Even if you’re not offered the job you’re applying for, you’ll almost certainly learn something valuable and either gain confidence or receive vital feedback to help you improve.
I’d also strongly advise people not to enter the events industry if the fast-paced, high energy and (sometimes) relentless, but always fun nature of the sector isn’t a fit. This also applies to having a willingness to go out of your comfort zone with networking and being a public ambassador for your organisation. These skills, which take time to develop, are key to success in such a relationship-based sector, but it’s a non-starter if desire to nurture this isn’t there from the start.
In my opinion, you don’t need a degree to work in events, as real-world experience is always better than theory. Pursue work experience, apprenticeship or internship opportunities and don’t undervalue skills you’ve learnt from frontline, customer facing roles. These often prove to develop valuable, transferable skills that set you in great stead for a thriving career in events/venues. Always practice and promote self-belief in what you can bring to the table from an indirect background, rather than what you feel you can’t ‘on paper’ from a direct one.
How do you handle setbacks and failures?
My first manager told me: “We aren’t surgeons, so there’s nothing you do that can’t be resolved.” That’s always really resonated with me, helping me put things in perspective. Of course, we inherently want everything to run perfectly for every event, but life isn’t like that. It’s not mistakes themselves that people remember, how they were handled and resolved matters far more.
What changes do you think are still needed to create more opportunities for women in leadership?
Last year, I was selected to participate in the Accelerate women’s leadership programme with the IET. I was one of 14 women undertaking a training programme to help enhance our skills and develop new ones. We’re now working to implement the initiatives from our final project. The key topics we’re focusing on are giving women the space to network, as we believe women tend to be the best advocates for each other, and help with building confidence to take the next step.
Ongoing debate about behaviours suggests the threshold for women to apply for a role when assessing their skills, experience and qualifications against a job description is higher than for men. At IET, we now add a note to all job descriptions encouraging women to apply for positions and internal promotions, even if they only meet 50-60% of the criteria.
Women should also pursue more volunteer roles within industry bodies, consortiums and associations, as these offer a fantastic foundation for personal development and growth. I’m pleased to say 50% of the Westminster Venue Collection board members are women.
I think we need to keep exploring new and collaborative ways to give women access to mentors and sponsors as they can make such a positive impact on our career trajectory. Back when I worked in hotels, I had the pleasure of working with Lynn Fraser, as my Sales Director. She took me under her wing and really inspired me, she treated everyone in her team as individual people first and foremost, not just staff, whatever level they were at. That really stayed with me and I learnt a great deal from her when I was just starting out.
