A SINGLE mum-of-two who has smashed the glass ceiling in her profession has urged other women not to be “embarrassed” about having ambition.

Jennifer Paice, the Chief Executive of deposit holding firm SafeDeposits Scotland, will join George Clooney at a prestigious awards ceremony tomorrow night.

A former physiotherapist, Jennifer now works to protect the deposits of more than 92,500 tennants across the country amounting to more than £67.5million.

The 39-year-old Bishopbriggs woman has been put forward for the Female Business Leader of the Year award at the Scottish Business Awards, held in Edinburgh tomorrow.

An array of celebrities are due to be in attendance, including comedian Rob Brydon, cycling star Chris Hoy and guest speaker, actor George Clooney.

Jennifer said the key to achieving success is hard work and determination but admitted it can be lonely as a female executive.

She said: “I’ve always been driven to do well, I’ve been ambitious.

“I think a lot of females maybe feel embarrassed to be ambitious and I think that’s absolutely rubbish.

“I’ve always been ambitious to do a good job and to feel at the end of the day that you have achieved something.”

After working in England and spending three years in New York, Jennifer returned to Glasgow and joined SafeDeposits Scotland three years ago.

The firm, which had just started in 2012, has now become the largest of its kind in Scotland under Jennifer’s leadership, and helps to look after around 60% of all Scottish tennant’s deposits.

It now employs 16 staff and has also launched what may become one of the country’s largest grant-giving charities using funds generated from the interest on the deposits.

As a single mum of two boys aged 1 and 5, Jennifer said her children are the main motivators behind her ambition and drive to succeed.

She also feels as though she is helping people in her role at the deposit holding firm, ensuring tennants and landlords are protected and people are aware of the importance of the scheme.

Jennifer said: “ Your motivations change when you have children and my motivation now is for them to have a good life.

As a woman, Jennifer said she has never felt as though there is a glass ceiling or anything stopping her from achieving her goals but admitted that it can be “quite lonely”.

She said: “I think it’s harder [as a woman] but I’ve been very fortunate that the bosses that I have and now the chairman I have have no limitations on what I can achieve because I’m a woman.

“What I do find frustrating is when you go to events that are for senior leaders, you will be one of the few females who are there.

“That’s frustrating because you end up not getting a group of similar people you can gravitate towards and who have the same issues.

“It can be quite lonely at the CEO level, especially when you walk in to a room full of men.”