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Last year we celebrated surpassing Lord Davies’s target of 25% women on FTSE 100 boards and
embraced his recommendation for a business-led target of 33% women on FTSE 350 boards by 2020.
We have seen a significant culture shift at the heart of British business with the number of women on
FTSE 350 boards more than doubling since 2011 and no more all-male boards in the FTSE 100.
One of the greatest achievements of the last few years is that business no longer asks why women’s
representation is so important but rather how they can make gender diversity a reality. This has been
achieved through a concerted, collective and collaborative effort from board chairs, businesses, investors,
executive search firms, government, academics, the media and, of course, women themselves.
This year’s Female FTSE Report highlights that there have again been year-on-year improvements in the
number of women on boards with some boards even moving to gender parity. However, this is no time
for complacency, and the report also rightly highlights that progress needs to accelerate. It is crucial that
we work together, government and business, to ensure that we do not lose momentum on this important
agenda. If we are going to close the gender pay gap and tackle the inequalities that still exist in the
workplace, we must capitalise on the skills and expertise women can bring to our top companies. The
principle of equal opportunity should apply in every workplace, in every sector and in every boardroom
in the UK.
If we are to see sustained gender diversity at the top of business we must do more to ensure women
progress through the executive pipeline. The reality is that progress inwomen’s representation at executive
level remains too slow. Analysis in this report also gives us an insight into women’s representation at
Executive Committee level in the FTSE 100, showing that they hold only 19.4% of Executive Committee
roles. In 2016 it’s unacceptable that women continue to be an exception when it comes to the most
senior leadership positions in business.
We are therefore delighted that Sir Philip Hampton, Chair of GSK, and Dame Helen Alexander, Chair of
UBM, will be focusing on improving representation of women in senior layers of FTSE 350 companies as
part of their new review on women on boards. Both Dame Helen and Sir Philip have extensive experience
at executive and non-executive levels and we look forward to considering their findings.
Achieving gender equality isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s vital for our economy too – enhancing
performance and nurturing productivity. Although the employment rate of women is the highest on
record, a detailed McKinsey report has estimated that if the market participation of women and men
were equalised, then annual GDP could be increased by at least 10% in 2025. If we work together to
make real progress on this then we will ensure women’s voices and views are heard at the highest levels
of business and grow the economy for the country as a whole.
MINISTERS’ FOREWORD
The Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP
Secretary of State for Education and
Minister for Women and Equalities
Baroness Neville-Rolfe DBE CMG
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and
Minister for Intellectual Property, Department
for Business, Innovation and Skills