Natalie Campbell, Belu
“TALK ABOUT MONEY”
“Everything I do is about championing women in leadership roles”, says Natalie Campbell, CEO of environment-first drinks business, Belu. Founded in 2002, Belu provides sustainably sourced and bottled British water and filtration systems to the hospitality industry. It gives 100% of its profits to the charity WaterAid and hires people based on attitude and their values.
After running a retail clothing franchise during her university degree, Natalie worked on Government entrepreneurship policies. She started her social innovation consultancy A Very Good Company in 2010 and went on to work with the charitable foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2018. She joined Belu as CEO earlier this year.
“I went through my career thinking any barriers were there to be broken down,” she says. “I was always paid the same as my male colleagues - I’d ask them and if I found out they were paid more, I would say to my boss, ‘We’re doing the same job so my salary should be the same as his, or more.’” Even though paying British men and women different salaries for the same job has been illegal for 50 years, it still happens. In 2018, BBC reporter Carrie Gracie discovered that she was being paid 50% less than male colleagues. Last year, she donated her backdated pay to The Equal Pay Advice Service and The Fawcett Society to help fund legal costs for women going to court over unequal pay.
“As individuals, we need to start talking about money,” says Natalie. “Do not compromise on what you should be getting paid. Stop thinking about time and start thinking about the value you’re bringing to a business - that is the salary you should have,” she says. “As businesses, we need to remove the smoke and mirrors around money. If it was all open, no one wouldn’t be able to get away with unequal pay. The BBC is a good example of that.”