Table Tennis England Chief Executive Sara Sutcliffe and Chairman Sandra Deaton offered proof that table tennis is ahead of the field when it comes to boardroom equality.

They were invited to speak at a workshop, organised by the Sport & Recreation Alliance, on the subject of Insight into Women’s Leadership.

It comes in the week when it was revealed that female representation in the boardrooms of Britain’s publicly funded sports has reached an average of 30 per cent for the first time.

Table Tennis England is ahead of the trend, with five female Board members out of 12, including the CEO and Chairman.

Sara and Sandra were invited as an all-female Chair/CEO team and shared the podium with Emma Atkins, CEO of the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, and Kereyn Smith, Secretary General of the New Zealand Olympic Committee.

The workshop, attended by a group of women working across the sports industry, focused on subjects such as leadership challenges and stepping out of a comfort zone.

Sara said: “We were honoured to have spoken at this event in front of so many key women from the sports industry. There was a great energy in the room.

“It’s great to see increased numbers of women in leadership positions.”