Great Britain : large firms reach 30% target for women on boards

For the first time, the boards of companies listed on the FTSE 350 stock market index have reached a 30% level of female representation. “This is an incredible milestone on the journey towards greater diversity,” said Brenda Trenowden, global co-chair of the campaign group the 30% Club, which has been fighting for this cause and published the figures on 3 October. She added: “We have seen senior leadership amongst the world’s largest companies evolve for the better, lifting gender representation from a mere 9.5% for the FTSE 350 in 2010, to a much healthier 30.01% in 2019.” The 30% Club now has its sights on a target of 50% for women on boards and would like to achieve more female chief executives, since only 13 women are currently at the helm of FTSE 350 firms. It should also be highlighted that the UK government is pursuing its own campaign, which has a target of 33% of board positions at large firms being held by women by 2020, on a voluntary basis (see article n°11200). Remaining on the issue of equality, on 2 October, more than 100 British businesswomen, including GSK chief executive Emma Walmsley and former Royal Mail CEO Moya Greene, launched the campaign against pay discrimination, dubbed #MeTooPay. Their aim? To systematically call out instances of inequality, with the businesswomen having been shocked by the recent case of discrimination against a female employee in the UK of BNP Paribas, who won her case in court.