Read the latest from Hitchin Nub News sponsors Lyndhurst Financial Management as International Women's Day approaches

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Imagine a gender neutral world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination.

A world that's diverse, equitable and inclusive.

A world where difference is valued and celebrated.

Today we can forge women's equality. Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias".

This is the headline message of IWD 2022

It got us thinking about a webinar that we attended recently, called Transforming Female Financial Futures.

The hosts of the webinar made several compelling statements:

89% of women want to engage with financial organisations that are socially and environmentally responsible

and 74% of women want to have access to trusted advisors (personally recommended).

The research also showed that:

Women's prosperity is defined by different life moments than men's.

They want to achieve freedom and security for themselves and their families to protect their futures.

They want trusted advisors with them on the journey, aligned with their values and more emotionally driven goals.

Women rely on a network of female peers for trusted referrals, to build knowledge and provide mutual support.

Women are time–starved in comparison with men and have greater acceptance of digital solutions when blended with tailored personal engagement.

Women want to advance on their own terms, not on those defined by male success.

At Lyndhurst, we have thought for some time that the financial services industry isn't doing enough to properly understand or meet the needs of women, both as customers and employees and so in 2016 we set out to play our small part in changing that with the introduction of Focus for Women

Focus for Women is our commitment to improve the services that we offer to our female clients and be mindful of the issues and elements that are most important to them so that we can help more women achieve financial security and freedom.

Alongside this we are passionate about supporting and developing our female employees at all levels and ensuring that equality is central to our culture.

We will be celebrating International Women's Day on Tuesday, March 8 as part of our monthly staff meeting, while also attending a local lunch hosted by the Harpenden Collective, where we will be hearing from three inspirational women in local business.

It is also the perfect opportunity to publicly support the wonderful work that is being done at Rayden solicitors in Harpenden, and two inspirational women who work there, Paula and Nicola, who are helping women through some of the most challenging life stages.

To see more about what they are doing you can visit their website here www.raydensolicitors.co.uk