As if that weren’t enough to set every woman’s teeth on edge, Sir Hampton continued: “I’ve had lots of women reporting to me or coming in to talk to me about their careers – either for general guidance or employees of companies where I’ve been working.

“I have never, ever had a woman ask for a pay rise… lots of men have trooped into my office saying they are under-paid but no woman has ever done that.”

Sir Hampton, perhaps sensing his words would be met with frustrated sighs across the nation, insisted that many chief executives would tell the same story.

“It is far more common for men to ask for more money than it is for women,” he reiterated.

Though it's long been thought that women lack assertiveness and confidence in work situations and therefore simply don't talk money as often as men, a study of 4,600 people last year found that women ask for pay rises just as often as men do (something you may expect the former business equality tsar to be aware of). Additionally, Hampton’s comments fail to address the fact that employers have a responsibility to provide equal pay, rather than put the onus on the employee.

So, unsurprisingly, his comments have not gone down well with the general populace. At all.

Women are to blame for BBC gender pay gap, apparently