Welcome back to the Peer Suite Agenda, your weekly briefing on what matters for your career, network, and next move.

Inside This Edition:

• From the Peer Suite blog: A five-question mid-year career check to run before the second half of the year gets away from you
• On our radar: The UK's progress on women at work, the £113,000 gender pension gap, plus a book, a podcast, and a new workplace right to know about
• Resources: The Help to Grow Management Programme, a government-funded leadership course
• Events: Upcoming Peer Suite events, including our Women's Networking Morning at The Roof Gardens on 14th July and a Wealth Panel on the gender pension gap on 22nd July

The Mid-Year Career Check: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself

When did you last stop to check whether the job you are doing is still taking you where you actually want to go? If the answer is back in January, you are probably in good company.

The year has two clear points in time when we think seriously about our careers, the fresh start in January and the review at the end of the year. Usually, the months in between are spent heads down in the work itself rather than stepping back to think about what it means for your career and how you are positioning yourself for the move you want next.

This mid-year moment is a chance to pause and think about where you are at. And yes, I know we all want to sign off for summer and start planning the European summer packing list, but before you do, I'd like to invite you to take a moment for a quick career check-in. Because doing it now gives you plenty of time to change course if you find you need to.

In this guide, we share five simple questions to structure your mid-year check-in, covering whether you are still working towards the right goals, how strong your key relationships are, how visible you are to the people who decide your next move, whether your pay has kept pace with what you now do, and whether the role is still teaching you anything.

📊 KNOW THE PICTURE The PwC Women in Work Index 2026 puts the UK back at the top of the G7, though that has as much to do with other countries slipping as with real progress here. Female unemployment has risen, and London now ranks last among all UK regions for women in the workforce.

💷 THE PENSION GAP IN NUMBERS The latest Scottish Widows research puts the gender pension gap at £113,000, with the average woman on track to retire on a pot of £173,000 against a man's £286,000, and career breaks are the single biggest driver. If your pension has been sitting in the deal-with-it-later pile, our Wealth Panel on 22nd July is built around closing this gap, and you will find it in the events below.

📚 ON THE SHELF The Mirrored Door by Ellen Connelly Taaffe looks at the patterns that carry high-achieving women to a certain level and then keep them there, from over-preparing to waiting for good work to be noticed and rewarded. A sharp read if you have done everything right and still feel a rung below where you should be.

🎙️ PRESS PLAY Squiggly Careers, from Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis, is one of the most useful careers podcasts going, with short, practical episodes on everything from confidence to negotiation to managing your own development. Good for the commute, and easy to dip into when you have a spare 30 minutes.

🏢 KNOW YOUR RIGHTS From this year, the right to request flexible working is a day-one right rather than something you earn after six months in a role. You can make two requests in any 12-month period, and your employer must respond within 2 months and consult you before refusing. Useful to know whether you are starting somewhere new or renegotiating where you already are.

Help to Grow Management Programme

The government's Help to Grow Management Programme is designed for senior women running their own businesses. It is a twelve-week, mostly online course delivered through accredited UK business schools, covering financial management, leadership, digital adoption, marketing, and growth.

The government funds ninety per cent of the cost, so your contribution is around £750 for a programme that would otherwise run to well over £7,500.

That's it for this week. I look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming events in July.

Your friend,

Rebecca

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