I felt rather out of place in the huge panelled drawing room stuffed with men in tweed jackets reading broadsheet newspapers, especially when carrying a copy of the Daily Mail.

When I sat down in the dining room it was also obvious that the men thought that I didn’t deserve to be there either. It took some work on my part to convince them that I had every right to my place at the table. After all, I was the one chairing the panel meeting the next day.