FTSE 350 companies have met their target for women on boards three years ahead of their deadline, with two-fifths (40.2%) of board positions now held by women.
The latest annual report from FTSE Women Leaders Review, which tracks the progress being made to break down barriers to progression for women in listed companies, showed that female board representation in the FTSE 350 as a whole increased by nearly 3% in 2022, while female leadership roles below board level increased to 33.5%.
The FTSE 350 had been tasked with meeting the 40% target for women on boards by December 2025, but the report shows this was met by December 2022. However, half of FTSE 100 firms are still yet to reach the target.
Now, the UK’s biggest listed companies have been encouraged to achieve 40% female representation in their leadership teams before 2025, which they are on track to meet.
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The scope of the review has also been widened to include 50 of the UK’s largest private companies, to encourage greater gender diversity across a wider spectrum of business. These currently have 34.3% female representation in their leadership roles below board level.
Nimesh Patel and Penny James, co-chairs of the FTSE Women Leaders Review, said: “Achieving 40 per cent representation for Women on Boards is a defining moment and is testament to the power of the voluntary approach and the collective efforts of many businesses and individuals over the last decade.
“By extending the review to include for the first time 50 of the largest UK private companies, our work now tracks progress of women in 30,000 leadership roles across all of big British business.”
Minister for women Maria Caulfield said: “Making sure the right people are in the top roles is not just morally right, it makes good business sense. I’m delighted to see this huge progress, years ahead of when we expected it.
“By working together, industry and Government can make sure inequality is a thing of the past – which is good for individuals, for businesses, and for our country.”
In 2011, when the Davies Review – the precursor to the Hampton-Alexander Review and latterly the FTSE Women Leaders Review – was launched, 152 FTSE 350 boards had no women on them at all. Now, the majority of listed companies have at least three women at board level.
The report finds that in the FTSE 100:
- The number of women in executive committees and their direct reports has increased to 34.3%, up from 32.5% last year
- 41% of available roles last year went to women
- Burberry Group is leading the way for gender balance in executive committees and direct reports, with 54.1% of positions taken by women. Next (52.8%), J Sainsbury (50.7%), Pearson (48.7%) and BP (46.2%) make up the remainder of the top five
- There is one all-male executive committee, mining company Fresnillo.
Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts said: “We are encouraged by the progress we’re making and by the positive impact this change is having on our business performance. Over half of our operating board members, including those with the
biggest P&L roles and critically those who lead the biggest teams, are now women.
I believe that the most effective way to drive bold and positive change in our business has been to appoint more women to the most visible roles that impact the most people” – Simon Roberts, Sainsbury’s
“In our experience, diverse leadership teams build deeper trust, have more open and direct discussions, ultimately achieving more impactful and successful business outcomes. I believe that the most effective way to drive bold and positive change in our business has been to appoint more women to the most visible roles that impact the most people.”
In the FTSE 250:
- Female representation in the executive committee and their direct reports rose to 33% from 30.7% last year, with slightly more progress this year in the direct reports
- Real estate firm Shaftesbury has the highest percentage of women in the executive committee and reports (63.9%), followed by Law Debenture Corporation (63%), ASOS (56.1%), Capital & Counties Properties (52.9%) and ITV (52.3%).
- There are nine all-male executive committees, including Aston Martin Lagonda and Savills.
The top performers among the biggest private companies that submitted their data included John Lewis Partnership, with 63% women in leadership, Heathrow Airport owner FGP Topco (47%), CDS (Superstores International) which trades as The Range (46%), JD Sports owner Pentland Group (45%) and Anglian Water Group (44%).
John Lewis Partnership chair Dame Sharon White said: “In 2020, we made a public commitment to become the UK’s most
inclusive business – a bold but achievable goal. Retail is a largely female industry, but not often the case at senior levels.
“Our latest reported median gender pay gap stood at 5.8%, down from 6.4% a year earlier. This compares to an average gap of 14.9% across the UK and 8.5% in retail in 2022.
“I’m encouraged by the progress but there is much more to do. It requires relentless, senior focus supported by data, which is the most effective way to shine a light on gender inequalities.”
Encouraging gender parity in the boardroom is not enough, suggested Laura Sanderson, UK country manager at executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates.
“At the current rate of change, it will be around 70 years before there are the same number of male and female FTSE 100 CEOs,” she said.
“Companies need to continue to work assiduously on their executive succession planning, ensuring that they have a gender balanced pipeline. There are still some misperceptions around female CEOs, and the ‘glass cliff’ phenomenon (whereby female CEOs are more likely to be appointed to crisis-stricken businesses and face unreasonable scrutiny from the media, the board or investors) is also a very real risk to progress.
“While the rapidly growing number of women in Chair, Senior Independent Director and CFO roles is an important part of the solution, it won’t fix the problem alone. Businesses must be more courageous and imaginative in backing talented women to take the next step. The belief that the CEOs of the future must look, sound and behave like those from the past is holding all of us back.”
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