Ricardo Group Finance Director Wins Prestigious Award for High Achieving Women

AUTO CENTRAL, JUNE 12, 2009: As a successful career woman who has spent almost her entire career in the engineering and technology sector, Paula Bell is quite a rarity. At Ricardo – where she was the first woman to be appointed to the company’s board – she has played a key role in the company’s highly successful diversification strategy into areas such as renewable energy, low carbon research programmes and defence vehicles for peacekeeping roles. In her three years with the company, she has presided over the reduction of a large debt balance to zero and has undertaken effective work on credit management. Ricardo’s continued strong performance against challenging economic conditions and automotive market distress, owes much credit to her foresight and financial acumen. She has also assumed an active role in promoting Ricardo programmes to encourage more young women to follow careers in science, technology and engineering.

On winning the award, Paula Bell said:

“I am delighted to have been recognised with the First Women award for science and technology. It’s a tremendous honour, and I sincerely hope that my efforts have helped to open doors for other women to follow, both in finance in general and the high technology sector in particular.”

Ricardo CEO, Dave Shemmans, commented:

“This award is no more than Paula deserves – it’s a fantastic accolade for her, and a testament to the tremendous work she has done at Ricardo and elsewhere. The company’s robust financial position and its continued positive outlook in difficult economic circumstances is in no small measure down to her ideas, energy and commitment. To remain competitive in this sector, we need to ensure that the very best talent is able to rise to the top, irrespective of gender or any other consideration. Paula has demonstrated that glass ceilings are there to be broken, and has gone ahead and done just that – she’s a great role model for others to emulate.”

Paula Bell attended a comprehensive school in her native Whitley Bay, just north of Newcastle, and began her exceptional fast track career by training as a chartered management accountant while working for the Port of Blyth. In 1989 she joined Rolls-Royce; just five years later - at the age of only 26 - she was appointed finance director of Rolls-Royce Industrial Controls, becoming the youngest appointed director at Rolls Royce. She followed a fast track career holding several directorships at Rolls-Royce Industrial Power Group and as business development director leading on strategy and corporate transactions, she showed her mettle as an international business women and negotiated and formed many overseas joint ventures. Her five-year stint as director of finance for Anglian Water – another female first – was followed by an eighteen-month spell as Finance and Property Director of Gatwick Airport, before electing to return to the cutting edge of the technology sector with Ricardo. Paula Bell now lives near Brighton with her partner, Dean, and their young son.

The First Women awards were established in 2005 by Real Business Magazine and the CBI, and are sponsored by Lloyds TSB. They seek to celebrate women who are trailblazers and pioneers in business – genuine glass ceiling breakers who have helped to remove barriers and opened up paths for other women to follow. The awards were presented at a celebratory gala dinner last night (11 June), held at the Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square, London.