Bank plan brings mums back to work

The number of women returning to work at HSBC after maternity leave has more than doubled since the company introduced childcare services, according to HR director Anne Watts.

Speaking at the Bright Horizons UK launch at the American Ambassador’s residence in London recently, Watts said providing nursery places has enabled HSBC to retain valuable female staff.

Today, 80.8 per cent return to the company, compared with only 30 per cent in 1989.

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HSBC has set up partnerships with 100 private nurseries providing 850 places for the children of its staff. Watts worked with Nurseryworks to set up the arrangement following the example of the US operation that was providing nursery care through Bright Horizons.

She stressed that parents had to be confident that the quality of care was high.