Gavin Hinks

Standard Life has coughed up £1.36m to settle the legal dispute and £97,000 towards her legal costs.

Anyone who ever had any doubts that she had a case, can now put them to bed. Reed clearly felt aggrieved after being ousted from the Scottish pensions and insurance giant.

She had been hired to see the company through flotation in 2006 and took the City by surprise just three months later when she resigned–a decision she made clear was not her own decision.

It’s difficult to tell what really lay at the heart of this conflict because both parties were reluctant to comment publicly.

Reed did indicate that a demand for compensation meant that it would ‘suggest there is a reason to pay one,’ but little else emerged.

What’s clear, though, is that Reed wasn’t in the mood for backing down and has proved beyond all doubt that she is one very tough lady. And that’s something the business world lacks at the moment – tough, uncompromising women who speak frankly and are honest about what they see, especially at the level at which Reed was operating.

Perhaps male-dominated boards have difficulty with that. Perhaps the temptation to close your mind and unfairly brand them as ‘difficult’ becomes, well, difficult to resist.

That’s a sign of substantial weakness, a sign perhaps that things really need seeing to. It will be interesting to see what happens to Reed. It would be an enormous shame if people allowed the spat with Standard Life to colour their opinion.

Gavin Hinks is editor of Accountancy Age