Insight - Male bosses in European retail still decide what women want

In Britain, not a single retailer in the FTSE 350 is run by a woman. On the continent, only 3% of the 87 main consumption and retail goods companies are female-run, according to a report in January by the European Union-backed European Women on Boards.

If there is one sector where women should probably be calling the shots, it’s retail. After all, they are its biggest customers and they account for a bulk of its workforce.

Yet women are mostly absent from corporate suites at European retailers, and Melanie Smith fears the virus may have made matters worse.