Conversation with…Ginny Wakefield, ecommerce director at B&Q
As ecommerce director at B&Q, Ginny Wakefield has played a central role in driving the retailer’s digital growth while championing gender equality both within the business and across the trades sector.
In this interview conducted around the time of International Women’s Day this month, she reflects on her career, the barriers still facing women in business and the trades, and the initiatives B&Q is using to drive meaningful change.
Subscribe to TRBCan you tell us about your career, including why you chose retail and how you arrived at your present role?
My first passion was fashion. I studied fashion design at university and always imagined that would be my path. But when I started my first role in retail, I became completely addicted to the adrenaline of trading. Monday mornings became my favourite day of the week. I loved the commercial side of the business.
I started my career at New Look, and in 2007 I had the opportunity to help set up their ecommerce business right from the very beginning. It came about in quite an unusual way. I was on maternity leave at the time and wanted to come back three days a week. Someone I worked closely with put my name forward for the project because they didn’t need someone full-time initially.
However, within six months the business had taken off and was growing incredibly fast, so I was back full-time pretty quickly. My career grew alongside the ecommerce business itself, and it was an incredibly exciting time. I was learning new things every day.
Over time, my passion shifted from fashion to digital. I became fascinated by the transformation that digital brings to businesses and the pace of growth you can achieve. That same adrenaline buzz I felt early in my career came back through digital transformation.
Today, I lead marketplace, ecommerce and retail media at B&Q. These are three high-growth areas that are moving very quickly, and what excites me most is the chance to break down boundaries, pioneer new ideas, and keep learning every day. I’m also privileged to sit on the B&Q board.
The main difference now is that delivering those changes requires a lot of people. The work is highly cross-functional, so a big part of my role is bringing teams together and making things happen across the organisation.
You’ve built an impressive career while raising a family. How did you manage that balance?
I went back to work when my daughter was eight months old, and honestly, it’s been fairly chaotic ever since!
I was lucky to have the right support systems in place. My husband worked locally, we had a great breakfast club and after-school club, and we just made it work.
There were times when other parents would say to me, “Oh, you’re Sienna’s mum – I’ve never seen you at school!” But the funny thing is that she grew up to be incredibly independent. When she was around 11, she was cooking gourmet dinners that were probably better than ours because she’d learned to take care of herself.
Now she’s at university – she started in September – and it’s only now that I realise just how much we were juggling. When you’re in it, you’re just trying to keep your head above water.
When I look at some of the people in my team now who have young children and very senior roles, I really admire them because I remember exactly what that stage feels like.
Do you think your daughter will follow in your footsteps?
Not exactly! She’s studying sport and exercise science and is really passionate about women’s sport. She’s an avid sportswoman herself and wants to make a real difference in that space, which I’m very excited about.
Alongside your role, you’re also an advocate for B&Q’s gender colleague network. Can you tell us more about that work?
It’s not really a formal title; it’s simply something I care deeply about.
Throughout my career I experienced quite an uneven playing field at times, so I’m very passionate about building awareness, creating understanding, and driving meaningful action.
One area I’m really proud of is our gender colleague network. I’m probably one of its biggest advocates and often encourage the team to be brave and bold in what we try to achieve.
Two years ago, we launched our Women’s Lean In mentoring circles, inspired by Sheryl Sandberg. So far, around 3,000 women across our head office and stores have taken part. What’s been most inspiring is how organically the initiative has grown. It started with a small group, but people took the idea and ran with it.
We regularly hear stories from women who say they wouldn’t have had the confidence to apply for a promotion before, but being surrounded by a group of supportive women who encourage each other every week has helped them take that step. Seeing that kind of peer support and confidence building has been incredibly powerful.
Ideally, I’d love every woman in the organisation to have the opportunity to take part in one of these circles, and we’re continuing to work towards that.
You’re also involved in the Women in Leadership programme at B&Q. What does that involve?
We developed the Women in Leadership programme and apprenticeships in partnership with Apprentify.
Last year we had 34 people graduate from it, and this year we have a cohort of 40 participants. It’s a programme designed by women for women, and it focuses on areas that aren’t always openly discussed in professional development.
That includes topics such as resilience, confidence building and imposter syndrome, as well as menopause, fertility and women’s health more broadly. The aim is to support women not just professionally, but personally as well. The feedback we’ve received so far has been extremely positive.
We’ve also been working with Kearney, who specialise in women’s health in the workplace. They’ve been helping us audit how we support women across the business and identify areas where we can improve. Some of the statistics and insights they share are quite eye-opening and really motivate us to take action.
Is there anything else you’re particularly proud of in this space?
One initiative that’s still in its early stages, but already making an impact, is the work we’re doing with our senior leadership team around education and awareness.
Last summer I read a book called The Authority Gap by Mary Ann Sieghart while I was on holiday in Greece. It explores how women are often taken less seriously than men, even when they have equal expertise or authority. It highlights the unconscious biases that exist in workplaces, the media and society, and suggests practical ways individuals and organisations can address them.
After reading it, I bought a copy for every member of our senior leadership team. We’ve had several discussions about it since, and it’s really helped build awareness.
What’s encouraging is that leaders are now actively recognising and calling out moments where the “authority gap” might be appearing. Someone might say, “I think I just noticed an authority gap there – can we talk about it?”
Seeing that level of awareness and openness is really encouraging, and we’re now looking at how we can take those conversations further across the organisation.
Why is encouraging more women into trades so important?
We commissioned some research and found that three-quarters of 16 to 18-year-olds don’t know any women who work in the trades. They simply have no visibility or awareness, which isn’t really surprising when only around 2% of women work in trades in the first place.
It really comes back to the idea that you’ve got to see it to be it. At the moment, that visibility just isn’t there.
Through our research we also learned that about half of the girls we surveyed felt they had fewer opportunities than boys in that sector. Many said they hadn’t received enough information at school about the options available to them. Others described the industry as intimidating, which I can understand, even as an adult when tradespeople come into my home.
Some also felt there were limited apprenticeship options or worried that they might not be physically strong enough for those roles. These are important perceptions, and they show just how much work still needs to be done.
B&Q has created a £1 million apprenticeship fund to help support people entering the trades. But despite the investment, uptake amongst girls has been relatively low so far.
To help address this, we launched our “Do the Lifting” campaign, which aims to showcase and celebrate the women who are already working successfully in the trades.
We also have incredible female expertise within our TradePoint counters across more than 200 of our stores. These colleagues are genuine experts. When a tradesperson comes in looking for advice about materials or how to approach a job, they’re the people providing that guidance. They’ve trained themselves to a very high level and support customers every single day.
Our goal is to increase the visibility of these role models and demonstrate that the skills and expertise required in the trades are open to everyone. But it’s a long-term challenge and we still have a lot of progress to make.
What advice would you give to women who are considering a career in the trades?
The advice I’d give is probably the same advice I’d give to any girl or woman thinking about their career.
Think about all the things you would do if you weren’t afraid – and then go and do them.
Have self-belief, trust yourself, be courageous and build resilience. Life can be difficult and often requires a lot of resilience, but it’s important not to let fear hold you back.
Recently I spoke at a leadership conference and shared a quote that I actually have on my wall at home: “They whispered to her you cannot withstand the storm, she whispered back I am the storm.” I point to it every day.
When my daughter was living at home, she probably got a bit fed up with me asking her, “What are you going to do to be the storm today?” But the message behind it is meaningful to me.
Women are often underestimated, and we shouldn’t be. We should do everything we can to demonstrate that we are competent, authoritative and experts in our fields.
From your perspective as a leader, what positive changes have you seen in gender equality during your career?
For me, the biggest shift happens when you reach a tipping point – when you’re no longer the only woman in the room.
Once there are more women present, you’re able to support each other and build momentum together. That’s incredibly powerful. As you gain traction and more voices join the conversation, you create an environment where women can back each other up.
Ultimately, it does become something of a numbers game.
Looking back on your career, is there anything you would do differently?
I think I would have been more courageous earlier in my career and spent less time worrying about what other people thought about me.
That’s something many leaders reflect on. Confidence and self-belief often grow with experience, but it would have been useful to embrace that mindset sooner.
Where do you see yourself in the future?
I don’t think I’ve ever really put a ceiling on what comes next. I tend to get a little bored if things stay the same for too long, so I’m always looking for the next challenge.
One of the great things about working in digital is that the landscape changes constantly. The role I’m doing today can evolve dramatically in just a few months, so it keeps things exciting.
For now, I plan to keep going and see where that journey takes me.
Finally, what impact is artificial intelligence having on your role?
AI is having a huge impact.
It allows my team and me to deliver more value to our customers much faster than we’ve ever been able to before. Some things that might previously have taken years to develop can now be achieved incredibly quickly.
It’s also helping our teams develop new skills that will be incredibly relevant for the future. From a colleague perspective, it’s putting people in a really strong position for the roles and opportunities ahead.
Overall, I see it as a very positive development.
