Recently by Ruth Ward

I've noticed a growing trend recently: an increasing number of business people who feel that they have to apologise for doing well during the downturn.

This is probably due to the fact that the people in question are decent, caring types. They are understandably sensitive to the difficult situation that many companies and individuals are facing as the country slides deeper into recession.

It's likely that most of us will know friends and family who have lost their jobs, and for the time being at least, the situation doesn't show any signs of improving. But should this stop the companies that are bucking the trend from celebrating their success?

The Birmingham Post and Birmingham Future's Power 50 is hot off the press, and I can't help but wonder if those people who have 'dropped off the list' in 2008 are mulling over the whys and wherefores of power as they sip their coffee this morning.

It's fair to say that the atmosphere at last night's launch was full of the usual anticipation, accompanied by a few raised eyebrows. But the interesting part for me was how quickly circles of influence can change in Birmingham.

It's been an interesting week for women in positions of power. Firstly, Silvio Berlusconi angered his European neighbours (and a few others besides), by claiming that the Spanish Cabinet was "too pink", suggesting that the number of women would make it difficult to lead.

On the other side of the pond, Hillary Clinton declared 'the tide is turning', after winning the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday. This announcement was brought to me via a news item on a commercial radio station, which chirperly announced, "The sound of high heels could soon be heard around the Oval Office."

OK, so I wasn't expecting in-depth political analysis from this particular broadcaster, but these images of woman appear so out-dated and superficial, and beg the question: how far have we really moved on in the past 100 years?

I've made a number of comments to a fair few people recently about the shortage of female bloggers in Birmingham, and I'm certainly not the only one. A prime example of 'be careful what you wish for' as, hot on the heels of my small rant, came an interesting and welcome invitation to be a guest blogger for the Birmingham Post. How could I refuse?

Looking around at my panel of esteemed bloggers in the Business section, I see that I am currently the single female voice. It's encouraging that the balance is starting to be redressed, but this is clearly not representative of Birmingham's business community. So an interesting conundrum presents itself. How do we encourage more women to make their voices heard, and why should they care?