Lord Davies recently published the third annual progress report into Women on Boards. Three years on from the ground-breaking review in 2011, Lord Davies and his steering group report a growing number of women in decision-making roles.
The latest figures, published at the same time as the Cranfield University School of Management’s Female FTSE Board report, show that women now account for 20.7% of board positions in the FTSE100 – up from 12.5% in 2011 and 17.3% in April 2013. Lord Davies originally set a target in 2011 of achieving 25% in 2015.
There continues to be real progress made with more women than ever before in the boardroom of the UK’s top companies and a growing recognition of the benefits gained by business, the economy and wider society.
Lord Davies, speaking ahead of his speech at Barclays, sponsors of the Cranfield report, on 26 March, said:
The rate of change that we have seen at the heart of our biggest companies over the last 3 years has been impressive. The voluntary approach is working and companies have got the message that better balanced boards bring real business benefits. We are finally seeing a culture change taking place at the heart of British business.
However, the eyes of the world are on us as we enter the home straight. They are judging us as to whether the voluntary approach, rather than regulation, will work – we need to now prove we can do this on our own.
Download the Female FTSE report 2014 here – The Female FTSE Board Report 2014
Download the Female FTSE 100 Women to Watch Report here – The Female FTSE 100 Women to Watch 2014
