{"id":25037,"date":"2025-05-07T16:00:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T15:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/?p=25037"},"modified":"2025-05-07T14:27:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:27:45","slug":"i-was-flying-high-in-the-corporate-world-then-i-turned-fifty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/i-was-flying-high-in-the-corporate-world-then-i-turned-fifty\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I was flying high in the corporate world \u2013 then I turned fifty\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 5<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Sally Wilse was an executive in a global corporation, leading teams and holding her own in the boardroom. She helped the company grow into a successful multinational with 50 offices across the world, and was certainly a force to be reckoned with.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But then, as Sally entered her fifties and the menopausal hot flashes and sweats descended, her career took an unexpected turn.<\/p>\n

\u2018I absolutely adored my job. I launched some fantastic careers with young people, but when I started my menopause, I had no idea what was going on with me,\u2019 Sally tells Metro.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was having hot flushes in the boardroom and looking back, I can imagine there might have been a lot of scepticism around the things I was saying because my face was flushing.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sally, now 63, had been working at home in Canterbury when she was asked to prepare an internal presentation about her recent business wins. Smartly dressed, she came into the office excited to see her team and share her achievements, only to learn her day would go very differently.<\/p>\n

Instead of heading to the boardroom, a 40-year-old male colleague took her into an office and told her they wouldn\u2019t be talking about her successes after all.<\/p>\n

\u2018My heart was racing,\u2019 remembers Sally. \u2018He told me that it would be my last day with the company and that he would take my job. I asked: \u201cWhat are you talking about? I\u2019ve been here for ten years. I\u2019m doing so well. On what grounds?\u201d And he replied: \u201cWe just feel you don\u2019t fit anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Unknown
After ten years of service, Sally was suddenly told she wasn\u2019t \u2018the right fit\u2019 for the company (Picture: Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I was beside myself. I had pride, so I held back the tears until I got on the train home.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sally decided to accept her contractual package and try to move on. \u2018I felt terrible, and for some reason, ashamed. My whole life was turned upside down because I wasn\u2019t going to work the next day,\u2019 she explains. \u2018The stigma around that and the fact that it felt like it was handled so poorly affected my mental health.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sally spoke to a lawyer who advised against an ageism case because \u2018there would be no public appetite\u2019, and with her confidence broken, she backed down.<\/p>\n

Being told someone over 50 isn\u2019t \u2018the right fit\u2019 is a familiar line trotted out in corporate Britain, according to recent research which has found that a \u2018worryingly high\u2019 proportion of the country believes ageist myths around older workers\u2019 competency and value.<\/p>\n

An Age Without Limits campaign survey revealed that assumptions around older workers\u2019 ability persist, with many of those in the 50-plus bracket feeling patronised, ignored and dismissed. It found that one in four people believe it does not make business sense to employ someone over 50 because they will be slow and unable to adapt.\u202f Meanwhile, over 20% think it is a waste of resources to give on-the-job training to someone 50-plus, according to the survey commissioned by national charity the Centre for Ageing Better.<\/p>\n

\"GettyImages
Many older people feel patronised, ignored and dismissed at work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018The proportion of people who fail to see the value and benefits of employing people in their 50s and 60s is worryingly high, but sadly also not surprising,\u2019 Dr Carole Easton OBE, Chief Executive at the Centre for Ageing Better, tells Metro. \u2018It is so dispiriting that these attitudes persist when older workers have such potential to tackle skills shortages, help businesses thrive and grow our national economy.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is also concerning that the prevalence of ageist attitudes is higher among people with the highest educational qualifications, who are most likely to make decisions around hiring, promoting and developing workers who are in their 50s and 60s. Little wonder that older workers are less likely to receive in-work training, are more likely to be made redundant and experience greater difficulties finding work.\u2019<\/p>\n

Ralph Fergusson-Kelly sent out around 250 applications and went to countless first and second interviews after his job was made redundant at the age of 57. Ralph had been general manager of an engineering business in Yorkshire on a salary just shy of six figures. He had an MBA, nearly 40 years of experience working his way up the ranks and a packed CV when the division he\u2019d been working for shut down.<\/p>\n

Having planned on working until his mid-sixties, Ralph embarked on a job hunt.<\/p>\n

\"Ralph
Despite 40 years of experience, Ralph was told he was too old for the jobs he interviewed for<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I knew I wouldn\u2019t walk into one, but I felt confident. My company did offer me a job in the existing company, but in a different division, at a level very similar to the one I joined 15 years previously. So it was a sort of non-offer offer with a pay cut of 40%,\u2019 he tells Metro.<\/p>\n

However, Ralph, from Monmouth, remained open-minded about taking a role further down the ladder and was willing to relocate for the right role, but as the months \u2013 and then years \u2013 went by, he had no luck.<\/p>\n

Soon, there were glaring gaps and no dates on his CV, while one recruiter even told him he was too old for the job when they met face to face.<\/p>\n

\u2018He said: \u201cI know they\u2019re looking for someone younger.\u201d I asked him if he was allowed to say that. But what can you do about it? It was demoralising,\u2019 remembers Ralph. \u2018It feels like age discrimination legislation is only of value for people who are applying for another job in the same organisation, so you know the other people who are applying.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was letter after letter, application after application. After a few months, I started to feel quite down about it, and I couldn\u2019t enjoy my spare time. I spent three years looking \u2013 you get tremendous highs and lows, often very close to one another.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019d get a second interview for a job, having ticked every box on the advert, and I would think I had got it, then I\u2019d go for the interview and have to chase them to get a reply, which would be: \u201cAnother candidate more closely matched our client\u2019s requirements\u201d. After that, you can\u2019t help but feel down and dispirited.<\/p>\n

\"GettyImages
Many of Ralph\u2019s friends from uni were \u2018thrown on the scrap heap\u2019 before they were ready<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018It was starting to get to me,\u2019 adds Ralph. \u2018It\u2019s all you can think about: Can I face another trawl online through the advertisements? You can\u2019t concentrate on anything else.\u2019<\/p>\n

After three fruitless years, Ralph gave up and took early retirement. Now at 67, he is happily enjoying not working, focusing instead on motorbiking, the odd holiday and acting as a \u2018house husband\u2019 while his wife works \u2013 but he says many of his friends from university were \u2018thrown on the scrap heap\u2019 before they were ready.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was a frustrating experience and it was only after drawing the line under the job search that I realised the weight I was carrying around,\u2019 he admits. \u2018But I\u2019ve dumped that now and can get on with the rest of my life. It was quite a relief not to be looking for jobs. Although my retirement finances were impacted by being laid off, I had enough savings that I could eke out. I\u2019m far luckier than many people.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sally, meanwhile, is grateful for her humiliating and unceremonious rejection from a job she\u2019d loved, because without that experience, she wouldn\u2019t have gone on to set up a company that supports older people in the workplace.<\/p>\n

\"Unknown
Sally now helps others who have experienced age discrimination find local work<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After spotting an article about an American company called \u2018Seniors Helping Seniors\u2019, she set up a franchise in the UK in 2011 and now recruits workers to provide in-home care to keep old people independent and in their homes. The average age of her carers is 59, but they hire younger support workers as well as one who is 80. The programme is popular with former police officers, firefighters and business owners, among others, says Sally.<\/p>\n

\u2018The idea is that a client will relate well to a carer of similar age, because they\u2019ve got a lot in common and plenty to talk about,\u2019 she explains. \u2018My husband and I started to hire older people as carers to run the domiciliary care company in Canterbury, and then we rolled that out as a franchise in the UK, and we\u2019ve now got ten offices, employing people who are at the end of their careers and are looking for local jobs.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sally recently met with a potential franchise partner who had taken early retirement from a hugely successful corporate position.<\/p>\n

\u2018I told him about my experience and he said: \u201cWhy do you think I\u2019m here?\u201d He saw the writing on the wall in his role and noticed how he was he was told \u201cthe ideal person would have been younger than you\u201d when promoted, so he negotiated his exit before he was pushed out. He has fifteen years left of management in him and is now looking forward to using his skills to do something good.<\/p>\n

\u2018I never saw what was on the cards when I was made redundant at 50, but how I can relate to other people as a result now is fantastic,\u2019 Sally adds. \u2018So I\u2019m very grateful it happened to me because I am so proud of what I am doing now.<\/p>\n

\u2018Everybody wants to be purposeful, and older people can use their experience to help others. Especially as they bring life experience to the table and a work ethic that is second to none.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sally Wilse was an executive in a global corporation, leading teams and holding her own in the boardroom. She helped the company grow into a successful multinational with 50 offices across the world, and was certainly a force to be reckoned with. But then, as Sally entered her fifties and the menopausal hot flashes and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":25038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[841,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-seniors-helping-seniors","category-care-franchises"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-1437687707.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.franchiselocal.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}