Accounting and finance is paving the way for collaborative leadership teams with millennials taking the lead as directors, according to new research.
Those in that age group are paving the way for the future of business backed by the likes of Gymshark’s Ben Francis and BBC Dragon Steven Bartlett and Natalie Ojevah, Vice President of Barclays.
Detailed Companies House analysis of 2,000 founders, CEOs and managing directors of the UK’s biggest businesses across 20 sectors revealed a wider picture by analysing the average age for each industry.
Accounting and finance was revealed to have an average age of 56. But within this space, company directors such as Jonathan Baillie at James Cowper Kreston and Richard Keyes at TC Group are aged 38 and 41 respectively, suggesting the future leadership team is getting younger, say researchers at Approved Business Finance.
Their findings suggests that Millennials are quickly climbing that career ladder with over 50 per cent of young people managing companies before the age of 30.
Architecture was found to have on average the highest age (59) in director positions, with the majority of managers being between the ages of 50 – 70.
The automotive and transport and logistics sectors share an average director age of 58. Interestingly, across the top 100 companies in each sector, none had an average age below 50.
Approved Business Finance founder Rory Dunn, suggested that bridging the gap between older and younger generations could be the key to creating a successful business, citing his own
management team as an example – all in their 30s.
“Having a mixture of ages creates a well-rounded team; everyone can bounce off each other and it produces a tenacious and resilient environment which is great for the growth of a company,” he said.
“Many young CEOs are demonstrating that there are ways for under-30s to enter wh
at was once considered the domain of their elders and become effective business leaders. By working together, both can learn from each other and build a company that is rewarding for those within the business.”
Hayley Smith, Communications Director at BE YELLOW said: “It is interesting, but not surprising that we are seeing a rise in young leaders. With the rise of YouTube and social media, younger people have gained access to online training, and skill development – opportunities that previous generations didn’t necessarily have access to. They are also learning key innovative and creative skills that they then apply to leadership roles.
“Younger leaders are more likely to challenge the status quo and we have seen on several occasions that young people drive and make permanent change.”
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