Aiming for Success | Interview with Mei Sim Lai

To describe mei sim lai as a high achiever would not do her justice. She was the first female partner of leading city chartered accounts pridie brewster and now runs her own chartered accountancy practice, laipeters. Having clearly mastered the art of time management, mei sim also holds a dizzying array of posts in the commercial world and is active in promoting diversity within business for both women and ethnic minorities.

Of Malaysian-Chinese origin Mei Sim Lai has lived in the UK since 1970, becoming a British Citizen in 1989. The decade before she became the first female and Chinese partner of the leading firm of City Chartered Accountants Pridie Brewster. She has considerable expertise and experience in looking after SMEs and helping them to grow and succeed. Outside the firm she is currently the Acting Chair of the DTI’s Ethnic Minority Business Forum and Chair of its Access to Finance Subgroup. She is also a member of the DTI’s London and South East Regional Industrial Development Board. Mei Sim is a Public Works Loan Commissioner, a member of the MoD Diversity Panel, a member of the Senior Salaries Review Body and a Non-Executive Director of Westminster Forum. Since 1991 she has been running the City of London Branch of the Institute of Directors as its Honorary Secretary. In the 2004 New Year Honours Mei Sim was appointed OBE in recognition of her services to Equal Opportunities.
Women Magazine (WM): Your career and professional achievements are both prolific and diverse. What would you say are the driving forces behind your achievements?
Mei Sim Lai (MSL): I enjoy working hard, being busy, meeting people from different backgrounds, new ideas and making things happen. I also enjoy helping others. I always aim to be successful and effective in whatever I do.

WM: What three words would you use to describe yourself?
MSL: I would describe myself as astute, enterprising and a great networker.

WM: You have done much work in promoting diversity and equality – what are the key areas which you think still need to be addressed?
MSL: I am much encouraged that a lot more organisations are now committed to promoting diversity and equality. However there is so much more to be done as diversity and equality are still not mainstream agenda items in many organisations particularly in SMEs. Strong leadership and commitment from the top is needed to sell the business case to everyone in the organisation. Having good diversity and equality policies and practices should be standard in organisations and sharing of best practice could be developed further. There is also an urgent need for boards in the private, public and voluntary sectors to be more diverse. The media could play a much bigger role in promoting diversity and equality.

WM: You have recently made a plea for more women, and ethnic minority women in particular, to put themselves forward and get involved in business and public life. Can you expand on this?
MSL: Women need to play a bigger part in business and public life. In recent years there has been good progress in this area but there is still considerable room for improvement. Women need to put them themselves forward for public appointments and make every effort to succeed and encourage other women to be involved. There are plenty of opportunities and women must not be afraid of going for them. We could certainly do with more women in Parliament and other walks of public life and on the Boards of the top companies in the UK as well as senior positions in business and the public sector.

WM: What are your three main indulgences in life?
MSL: My three indulgences are eating out, opera and exotic holidays.

WM: How good are you at coping with work/life balance?
MSL: I am not very good at work/ life balance as I spend more time on work than on other areas. This has been particularly so in the past year because of trying to establish my new Chartered Accountancy Practice LaiPeters & Co. During the week I am very busy during the day and evenings but I try to set aside time for my husband at weekends. As a rule we always go out for dinner on Friday night to relax and catch up.

WM: Which women do you particularly admire?
MSL: Women I particularly admire are my mother and the unsung heroines who work tirelessly to help others. I also greatly admire Her Majesty The Queen, the late Anita Roddick and Baroness Kennedy. *

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