Issue 11 2020

22 Acquisition International - Issue 11 2020 Sep20974 Company: Morning Data Contact: Kirstin Duffield Website: www.morningdata.co.uk orning Data is a niche software company with a history dating back to 1983. The company serves the Insurance and Reinsurance Industry, helping large and small companies navigate the London Market. Morning Data is now led by Kirstin Duffield, winner of the Insurance Software Business Leader of the Year (UK) award. The company’s impressive client range incudes MGA and Lloyd’s Coverholders. Morning Data specialises in the London market rather than personal lines, with its software solution providing support for the full policy lifecycle from quote to P&L’ for Direct, Proportional and Non-Proportional Treaties, Facultative Reinsurance and Delegate Authority business. Kirstin herself joined the family business in 1996, providing admin and programming support to the team, then just three people. As the company grew, she took over as CEO in 2005. Kirstin explained, “my role has been to grow the company from four employees and five clients and to provide a solution of choice to the international stage. Starting my career in software programming and data analysis means I retain the product owner role and oversee the Development team. Having developed skills and knowledge in the data analysis space through client engagement, I have become a market-wide subject matter expert. I still own the data analysis functionality within the software, as well as offering consultancy to other market participants, including Lloyd’s of London.” Not only is she leading a successful business, but she is doing so in an industry that is more difficult for women to advance in. Kirstin recounted a situation that she experienced. As a pre-University employee with IBM in 1991, she was not allowed to partake in the welcome drinks evening, as it was held at the Athenaeum Club prior to women being admitted. Despite this, Kirstin recognises that she has been blessed and “a little protected” in her experiences. She has been fortunate enough to not have to fight a glass ceiling or take a promotional pathway that may have revealed greater discrimination. She said “Being an owner, your promotional path is not really relevant” After graduating at Oxford Brookes University Kirstin started out in the Marketing team at CSI in Woking before moving to Dorset and starting her own IT training company. By 1998, she had joined forces with her father to build his software activities from just him and one other, to a more significant player on the London Market software scene - as well as tackle the infamous Millennium bug crisis that wasn’t! M The IT industry is, unfortunately, a predominantly male one. A competitive industry already, it can be even harder for a woman to reach the top. But that is exactly what Kirstin Duffield has done by giving strong leadership to her company, Morning Data. Insurance Software Business Leader of theYear (UK): Kirstin Duffield Although fortunate to have been able to forge her own career with relatively little opposition, Kirstin is not blind to the issues that plague women in the industry. She tries to use her position to help others. “The most common issue I have seen, one I witnessed recently, is the manner in which a woman, particularly if they are younger, is regarded if they challenge an older male. A response of “you don’t need to know that” rings loudly in patronising tones. All he needed was to say ‘my dear’ or ‘my darling’ afterward and we would have stepped back 30 years! The woman was seen as aggressive, and the man as being assertive.” This double standard she describes is what can stop young women from fully realising their potential as leaders. Women are often seen as “bossy”, when actually they may be displaying great leadership skills. Kirstin added, “the young lady concerned absolutely did not need anyone to come to her rescue, but it is not a weakness to need validation from your peers that you were not in the wrong. That is human. My advice is that you can always remain polite, succinct and stand your ground.” Kirstin is a huge believer in mentoring. She always endeavours to accommodate anyone who applies for work experience, encouraging girls to come in and find out what IT is all about. It isn’t about big headphones and sitting in a dark room coding. Kirstin also visits schools and talks about women in tech introducing the different opportunities, roles and environments in which IT features. Kirstin has built a reasonably well-balanced team of twenty-two, of which seven are women. They span admin and technical roles. Unfortunately, she has always found it more difficult to recruit women as she simply receives fewer female applicants to advertised software roles. Morning Data has, however maintained a zero gender pay gap. In 2018, Kirstin had to correct a negative pay gap, ensuring male staff wages kept pace with female! “I still feel that humans are humans and differences are inevitable,” Kirstin said. “They should be celebrated and capitalised on. However, there are some industries that are still almost back in the ‘50s we are making progress, slowly”