It’s a depressing fact of life that, as women, many of us will bump up against the glass ceiling at some point in our careers. So here at Stylist we feel it’s only right to celebrate the empowering women who not only manage to smash their way through that proverbial ceiling of doom, but also lend a hand back down to help other women reach dizzying heights in their own careers, too.

One such woman is Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, who has tonight scooped our Glass Ceiling Award in recognition of her phenomenal achievements. 

Taking to the stage at our first ever Remarkable Women Awards, she said: “This is a wonderful night. Thank you to Stylist for the support you’ve shown for women generally. As I speak, there are thousands of women keeping us safe.

“We’re celebrating 100 years of women in the Met,” she continued. “It was described then as an experiment, and the women had to buy their own uniforms at Harrods! But people like me are here because of those brave women.”

Addressing the room, she added: “So thank you very much for the award. I take it on behalf of 100 years of women in the Met police force.”

As actress Vicky McClure, who presented Dick with her award, pointed out, she is not only one of the most powerful women in the country, but one of the most powerful people, period.

As we celebrate her achievement, allow us to take you on a whistlestop tour of her career so far. Dick joined the Met police as a constable in 1983, and at the time she was one of just two female officers working within a 100-strong squad. Since then, her career has gone from strength to strength, and she is now the highest-ranking police officer in the UK, who just so happens to also be a CBE. Not too shabby, eh?

Any little girl who dreams of becoming a police officer will rightly look up to Dick, and rather than only seeing male police officers on their TV screens, they will now see a woman in charge – a real change from 36 years ago, when Dick first joined the Met.

Even better, Dick’s achievement comes in the same year that we are celebrating 100 years of women being able to join the Met police, so we really couldn’t think of a more fitting person to scoop this award.

Addressing the audience before she presented Dick with her award, McClure said, “From speaking to the team at Stylist, I know just how important they felt it was to recognise this remarkable woman and the status that she holds”. She is absolutely right.

Congratulations again to Cressida Dick, the very worthy winner of our Glass Ceiling Award.

philosophy are the official partner of Stylist’s Remarkable Women Awards.

Images: Rex Features, Getty