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W O R L D   M E N O P A U S E   D A Y  2 0 2 6

The heat is on.
So is your chance
to lead.

The employers who get this right keep the women other employers are about to lose.

With special guest speaker Alex Mahon, CBE

webinar-icon VIRTUAL EVENT
calendar-icon 15TH OCTOBER 2026
clock-icon 12PM BST

What you will learn

Hear how Alex Mahon CBE, former CEO of Channel 4 and CEO of Superstruct Entertainment, turned menopause support at work into a competitive advantage for the employer.
She will share what she implemented to make menopause support work inside a large organisation.
How an employer transformed their menopause support.
Jane Cosgrove, Chief People Officer at the Financial Ombudsman Service, reveals what changed once specialist menopause support was in place, from retention to the conversations managers are now having.
Understand the business case.
Peppy CEO and Co-Founder Mridula Pore breaks down why employer of choice status on menopause is now being won or lost and what women expect from their next role.
Learn what joined-up clinical support looks like in practice.
Janet Wingfield, Peppy's Lead Menopause Practitioner, shares tips on how to spot the hidden symptoms driving performance risk at work and why menopause support should be for the whole-person.
Know how to reframe reasonable adjustments and manager conversations as enablers of performance.
And a clear view of where your organisation stands this World Menopause Day.

World Menopause Day on 18th October is the moment every employer‘s position on menopause gets looked at. By the women already working for you, by the candidates deciding whether to apply, and by the people comparing you with your competitors.

Most will find a policy. Fewer will find support that works.

Meet the speakers

Alex

Alex Mahon CBE

Former CEO, Channel 4 and CEO, Superstruct Entertainment

Alex Mahon CBE was the first female CEO of a major UK broadcaster, leading Channel 4 for eight years through a period of intense change, disruption and scrutiny. She transformed the business into a digital-first public media company, putting diversity and equitable representation alongside creativity at the centre of the organisation. Alex became a prominent advocate for workplace menopause support, leading Channel 4's review of policies for employees experiencing menopause, fertility issues and pregnancy loss — breaking longstanding corporate taboos and making the company a model for inclusive workplace culture. She is now CEO of Superstruct, a leading live event and festival company, and chairs the Centre for Creative AI.
Mridula Pore, CEO & Co-Founder, Peppy

Mridula Pore

CEO & Co-Founder, Peppy

Mridula is co-founder and CEO of Peppy (www.peppy.health). She is passionate about making healthcare more affordable and accessible. Mridula started professional life as an engineer, studying first at Cambridge, and then completing her PhD and MBA at MIT. She was previously an engagement manager in the healthcare practice at McKinsey and a business unit head at Sandoz. She lives in West London with her husband and two young children.

Jane

Jane Cosgrove

Chief People Officer, Financial Ombudsman Service

Jane Cosgrove is Chief People Officer at the Financial Ombudsman Service, where she is a member of the Executive Team and leads the organisation’s people agenda. Her role focuses on building the culture, capability and working environment needed for colleagues to perform at their best, while supporting the organisation’s wider strategy and transformation priorities.

Jane is an experienced executive leader with a strong background in human resources, organisational change, governance and operational delivery. Before joining the Financial Ombudsman Service, she held senior people and leadership roles at the Civil Aviation Authority, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Home Office, alongside wider director-level responsibilities in major projects, infrastructure, audit and assurance, and criminal legal aid. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and holds an MBA.

Jane’s experience combines deep HR expertise with broader executive leadership across complex, regulated and publicly accountable environments. She is recognised for building effective stakeholder relationships, strengthening organisational culture and capability, and providing leadership through corporate turnaround and project recovery. At the Financial Ombudsman Service, Jane has led work to build a credible HR function and support cross-cutting organisational initiatives, including the target operating model, reward strategy and Academy programme. Her current priorities include developing the people strategy, strategic workforce planning, future skills, leadership capability, succession and cultural change.

Janet Wingfield

Janet Wingfield

Lead Menopause Practitioner, Peppy

Janet is a dedicated and experienced nurse, especially in her focus on supporting women through the menopausal transition. With over 40 years of clinical experience, including two decades in primary care, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her role as Lead Menopause Practitioner at Peppy. Janet has been a part of Peppy nearly since its inception. Her long-standing commitment to Peppy shows that she values its mission and sees the importance of the services it provides. Her commitment to mentoring and teaching emphasises her desire to share her knowledge and support the development of others. Janet's passion lies in making a meaningful difference in the lives of women, particularly during this important stage of their lives.

Why it matters

Menopause-related absence costs
UK employers £191m a year

(UK Government Menopause Literature Review, 2025)

1 in 4

women consider leaving work because of symptoms. 1 in 10 do.

Endometriosis UK and Peppy research

50-200% 

of annual salary is the estimated cost of replacing a senior employee.

Sector benchmark

With specialist support

58%

reduction in severe symptoms at 180 days, and a 15% drop in menopause-related work impairment within 90 days.

Peppy outcomes data

250+

organisations already give their people access to Peppy. The employers women compare you with are further along than you think.

KEY TOPICS

What you’ll learn

Still deciding if this session’s for you? Here’s what we’ll cover.

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Why the pressure is building

Employee awareness of menopause is rising faster than employer support. The gap between the two is now a retention risk. 

The issue is wider than most policies account for. Menopause spans a huge age range, from Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI) in the 20s and 30s through to post-menopause in the 60s. Every employee born with ovaries is in scope, at any career stage.

Support is not special treatment or a new cost to manage. Support women properly and they bring more to your workforce. It is what lets your best people keep doing their best work, and it is what makes you the employer they choose.

With just 32 working days until World Menopause Day, this is the moment to find out where your organisation stands. 

1 in 4 

women consider leaving work due to menopause symptoms.

1 in 10 do.

£191 million per year

Menopause symptoms cost UK employers approximately  in absenteeism (UK Government Menopause Literature Review, 2025).
 

Just 35% 

of women said their employer had a menopause policy in place

Menopause Mandate MEGA 2025 survey

Only 37%

had access to training or support at work

Menopause Mandate MEGA 2025 survey

Meet the speakers

Join Peppy's CEO, Dr Mridula Pore, and Laura Biggs, Founding Director at Menopause Mandate, for a live panel on the gap between employee expectation and employer support, and what closing it before 18 October looks like.

Laura Biggs

Laura Biggs

Founding Director, Menopause Mandate

Laura Biggs is Founding Director of Menopause Mandate, a group of motivated women from all walks of life who share a common interest in perimenopause and menopause. Menopause Mandate is devoted to creating a coalition of campaigners to revolutionise the support and advice women receive from both our health service and wider society. Laura is also CEO and CO Founder of Women in Work and Let’s All Talk Menopause.

Menopause Mandate is the campaigning organisation behind the push for better menopause healthcare, education and workplace support across the UK. Its mission is to ensure every woman receives the care, understanding and support she deserves during menopause. 

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Mridula Pore

CEO and Co-Founder, Peppy

Mridula is co-founder and CEO of Peppy (www.peppy.health). She is passionate about making healthcare more affordable and accessible. Mridula started professional life as an engineer, studying first at Cambridge, and then completing her PhD and MBA at MIT. She was previously an engagement manager in the healthcare practice at McKinsey and a business unit head at Sandoz. She lives in West London with her husband and two young children.

Grace Stokes

Grace Stokes (host)

Head of Client Success, Peppy

Grace oversees strategic partnerships to empower clients in achieving their health and wellbeing goals. With expertise in client success, workplace wellbeing, and employee benefits, Grace collaborates closely with organisations to maximise the impact of Peppy’s clinical services. Her passion for Women’s Health and menopause support fuels her dedication to helping businesses cultivate happier, healthier workforces where everyone can thrive.

“Perimenopause forced me out of a job I‘d been devoted to for years. There was simply no support. If Peppy had been here the first time, I wouldn‘t have left.”

Peppy menopause user
British Airways

What support that works actually covers

Most menopause policies were written for hot flushes. They name the symptom everyone already knows about and stop there.

Real support starts somewhere else. Joint pain gets named. Brain fog gets addressed. Heavy bleeding stops being managed in silence. Sleep, mood and anxiety get treated as part of the same picture rather than four separate problems in four separate appointments.

That is the difference between a policy on paper and support that works, and it is where Peppy operates. Specialist clinicians with the time and the expertise to see the whole picture, not just the symptom that made it into a ten-minute GP appointment.

Women stay. They perform. They stop spending the working day managing something alone.

Women who have had real menopause support at work start looking for it everywhere else. That is how a standard forms. There is a difference between setting one and catching up to it. So save your seat!

Know someone who needs to hear this? Forward this to a colleague.

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Peppy is an employee healthcare benefit that gives people easy access to specialist clinicians across key life stages, helping employers provide consistent, expert led health support in practice.

Join 250+ organisations improving wellbeing, retention and performance with Peppy.