Crystal Palace Local

Emma Stewart set up Women Like Us in 2005 from her garden shed right here in good old Crystal Palace with her business partner Karen Mattison doing the same from North London. Together, they created an organisation that would act as a ‘meeting point’ between talented and experienced women who wanted flexible work, and employers who needed people on a part-time basis. Four years on, and Emma has just been to Buckingham Palace to collect an enterprise award from The Queen in recognition of the innovation of Women Like Us’. There are a ‘hidden’ half million women in the UK who want to work, have the skills to do so and an incredible bank of experience, but simply can’t find work that will fit with family life. For businesses, this creates a unique opportunity to hire, for example, an experienced £40K candidate for £20K.

Women Like Us connects employers to this ‘hidden’ pool of talent. It gives London employers access to a complete variety of staff who want to work part-time.

12,000 women are currently registered with Women Like Us. One in eight of these have more than a decade’s worth of career experience and many have field-specific qualifications such as PhDs and chartered accountancy examinations. The women who come to Women Like Us represent talent from every sector - senior project managers, bookkeepers, PR professionals, administrative assistants and web designers have all walked through its doors – every day brings someone with a new specialty.

Women Like Us has worked with every kind of employer – from large financial institutions, through to micro businesses and charities, whom all recognise that flexibility is the key for overcoming many different challenges - and it’s certainly the best way to attract experienced and talented candidates who want hours that
fit around family life.

Women Like Us goes beyond simple matchmaking. The organisation has developed a consultation service for employers, after recognising that employers want to tap into ‘part-time know how’ and to find out, for example, how to make the most of each hire, what they should be paying and how to retain talent.  It is now starting to create bespoke services to fit specific needs, and has just launched a new trustee-finding service to introduce non-profit organisations to senior-level women.

If you have been thinking about hiring someone on a part-time or flexible basis or think of someone who might benefit from joining Women Like Us, contact the team via their website: www.womenlikeus.org.uk
or call: 020 7281 6522