Spotlight on Clare Urmston: The CFO paving the way for women in Finance and Maritime Decarbonisation

International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.

IWD has been celebrated for over a century, with the first gathering in 1911 – supported by over a million people.

This year, the charity are aiming to #InspireInclusion by acknowledging women’s achievements, raising awareness about discrimination, and taking action to drive gender parity.

So, to honour International Women's Day 2025 , we sat down with Anemoi’s Chief Financial Officer, Clare Urmston , to learn more about her career inspirations and achievements, and how she’s continuing to inspire the women at ANEMOI .

“When women themselves are inspired to be included, there's a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment.” – International Women’s Day, 2024

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Can you tell us a little bit about your career?

After graduating University of Sheffield, I trained with one of the big four accounting firms. I then worked my way up to numerous executive positions across retail and manufacturing.

2013 and 2014 were particularly big years for me. In 2013, I was Head of Finance and won the Finance Director of the Future Award by INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES (ICAEW). This was a proud moment for me, so I celebrated with Dom Perignon!

Reflecting on this, I really had to push my boss to support me to enter this, but I persisted. The application and interview were pretty intense. After winning, it definitely opened the door to get me on the #Deloitte Future Chief Financial Officer programme – which was also incredibly helpful to my career.

With this in mind, I would advise any women in work to be determined and headstrong, and to have confidence in yourself to go for it! You never know where it might lead…

In 2014, I secured my first Finance Director role and was recognised by the ICAEW as Future Finance Talent Top 50. I also named the design spin off company, which was a great accolade at the time. I am quite creative (art wise), so it was nice to use my finance skills for something more creative.

“I would advise any women in work to be determined and headstrong, and to have confidence in yourself to go for it! You never know where it might lead…” – Clare Urmston, Anemoi Chief Financial Officer?

In early 2020, I joined Anemoi. Having not worked in the shipping industry before, I was looking forward to a new and exciting challenge. As I’ve always been passionate about animal conservation, Anemoi’s eco-friendly mission inspired me, and felt like a great way to use to my professional experience to also give back to nature.

And still in 2024, I’m motivated by Anemoi’s collaborative culture and am thoroughly enjoying growing our team – especially encouraging and supporting our female managers – as we have taken Anemoi from Research and Development to full commercialisation.

Which woman has inspired you in your career and why?

I had a long think about this and the person who keeps springing to mind is my mum. She always allowed and encouraged me to express my views, pushing me at school (with the caveat as long as you’ve tried your best) and made me have a job from the age of 12.

This influenced me in higher education and resulted in me having 3 jobs in my university breaks, which really installed my work ethic and drive. It also means all I have I’ve worked for – which I really appreciate and gives me a great sense of achievement and satisfaction.

My mum always believed in me and made me fight my corner. Unfortunately, I have been on the receiving end of some poor and unacceptable behaviours at work, which my mum supported me and helped me overcome, guiding me to consistently make the right choices.

With this experience, I am very passionate about supporting women and making sure the workspace is a safe space and that we especially do things right at Anemoi.

How do you hope to influence the women in Anemoi?

Anemoi is still a relatively new company and is growing rapidly, which fortunately has created lots of new positions and given people the opportunity to scope out their roles to the best they can, to succeed. No job specification is set in stone.

This also means as we grow that new roles are created at varying levels which allows progression within teams and promotions. We’re proud that in 2024 in our UK offices, 50% of managerial positions are held by women - compared to an average of 40.2% across the UK in 2022, reports the Office for National Statistics.

I actively encourage everyone at Anemoi to embrace this and use it as an opportunity to develop personally in their career. In my career, it’s been important to try new things and push barriers, and at Anemoi we luckily don’t have glass ceilings or a “this is how we’ve always done it” approach.

Additionally, I am a huge supporter of developing people to work outside of their technical function and support job secondments/rotations. Anemoi is an exciting business, in a new technology space and therefore we are trying and doing new things all the time.

I hope all the team take this as an opportunity to think outside of the box and stretch themselves to achieve more by learning on the job and in the industry.

“We’re proud that in 2024 in our Anemoi UK offices, 50% of managerial positions are held by women - compared to an average of 40.2% across the UK in 2022, reports the Office for National Statistics.” – Clare Urmston, Anemoi Chief Financial Officer

Another area I hope to influence, is by being an advocate on personal development through our behaviours, which are equally important as technical skills. IQ is limited without EQ.

At Anemoi, we are currently in the process of rolling out a new leadership competency framework and have taken the first step in delivery training at the end of 2023 and will continue into 2024. I hope the team enjoy learning how to work better collaboratively (as hybrid working does have its challenges) and can try out their new skills in a safe environment – enabling them to grow individually and progress upwards if they wish to.

These are just some of the ways I hope makes Anemoi an enjoyable place to work and one where women feel safe to express their thoughts, be heard and be rewarded.

I am proud of all the women here at Anemoi and all we do!

“Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women's equality. Collectively we can all #InspireInclusion.” – International Women’s Day, 2024