Great Britain: government looks to further improve female representation in the upper rungs of FTSE companies

On 01 November, the UK government announced the establishment of a new five-year review called the FTSE Women Leaders Review. The overall ambition of the review is to increase female representation at the top of large stock-market listed companies. Specific targets are expected to be disclosed shortly, along with the name of the person responsible for steering the review. “UK business has taken great strides when it comes to gender diversity at board level, underlining the success of the government’s voluntary approach,” remarked business secretary Paul Scully, but cautioned “Companies shouldn’t take their foot off the gas.” This new review succeeds the five-year Hampton-Alexander Review which, from 2015 to 2020, encouraged large businesses to voluntarily achieve 1/3 female board representation (c.f. article No.12150 and No.11200). This goal has been largely achieved, as 36.2% of FTSE 100 and 33.2% of the FTSE 250 company board members are now female. The Hampton-Alexander Review was able to secure an overall 50% increase in the number of females on corporate boards. Prior to this, an earlier 5-year report, the Davies Review, achieved the first target of 25% female representation on FTSE 100 company boards.