I mean, women, they’re everywhere, aren’t they? Except in some jobs. Be it a lorry driver, a coal miner or a printer, when it comes to some professions, women are in a minority for all manner of reasons, many of them historic. 

Yet in other areas of our industry, such as the print-buying side, women have equalled or outnumbered the chaps when it comes to the top jobs, perhaps because juggling multiple projects lends itself to the female knack for multitasking.

One notable woman in a man’s world is Karren Brady, vice-chairman at West Ham and trusted advisor to Lord Sugar on The Apprentice. She is, of course, the daughter of print’s very own Terry Brady. Instead of joining male-dominated print, Brady went into the even more male-dominated world of football. She is responsible for one of my favourite woman in a man’s world quotes of all time. When she took charge at Birmingham FC and met the squad, one of the players quipped: “I can see your tits in that shirt”, to which Brady replied: “Don’t worry, when I sell you to Crewe, you won’t be able to see them from there.”

My point being, that whether you’re a woman in a man’s world, or a man working in a predominantly female occupation, such as hairdressing or nursing – hey, even some publishers – you’re going to need to hold your own. I really can’t be doing with quotas and the like, that just creates artifice. If a job isn’t appealing to a certain gender, so be it. The most important thing is recruiting people who are going to be an asset to an organisation, whatever their sex.