Cranfield Female FTSE Board Report 2016

MINISTERS’ FOREWORD

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.

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