Ruth Henderson was the UK's first female Chief Executive Officer of a publicly quoted company.
[1] History – 1980's: Product Director, Alexon Group – 1991 : Henderson becomes the UK's first female CEO of a public company – 1992 : Henderson leaves Alexon Group after profits fall – 1993 : Joins Baird as Managing Director – 2001 : Becomes CEO of William Baird[2] Ruth Henderson was Product Director of Alexon Group, reporting to CEO Lawrence Snyder, during the Group's most profitable period (£21.40M profit from £167M sales (1990)) However, Ms Henderson is of note not for that position, but for her role as CEO.
However John Osborn, a former Sears executive renowned for slashing costs at British Shoe Corporation, was to replace Henderson as CEO.
(Note; the 1993 loss was later restated by Osborn to a £12M loss) Henderson initially took a step back in her career and in later 1993 became Managing Director of Baird's branded clothing business, with brand such as Windsmoor, Planet, Precis Petite and Dannimac.
A decade ago she became the only female chief executive of a British public company when she took the helm at Alexon, the women's fashion group.