All-male boards at top U.K. firms come closer to extinction

Advocates cheer numbers, but progress stalled on female chief executives and pay equity

All-male boards at the U.K.’s biggest companies are nearing extinction, a sign that government efforts to increase gender parity are paying off.

Just five companies in the FTSE 350 Index have no women at the top table, down from eight in 2017, according to data from the annual Hampton-Alexander Review that will be released in full Tuesday.

The number has fallen dramatically since 2011 when 152 boards were men-only.

Those bucking the trend in- clude hospitality group Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Plc, property business Daejan Holdings Plc and two investment trusts. Daejan cited its Orthodox Jewish owners as the reason for the lack of senior women.

“Unless somebody forces us to do anything different, the chances of us appointing a woman are pretty slim,” said Mark Jenner, Daejan’s secretary. Millennium & Copthorne joined the list after its female chief executive and a non-executive director both left in recent months. A spokesperson said the company was “aiming to address our gender diversity as soon as practicable.”

Those working on the review were cheered by how many of last year’s transgressors became more diverse, with companies such as Sports Direct International Plc and Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc coming off the list.

But they still faced some disappointing excuses from companies as to why there weren’t more women on boards.

Companies have explained the absence of women on their boards by saying “they don’t fit in,” “they don’t want the hassle” and “all the good ones have already gone,” according to comments heard by the Hampton-Alexander Review authors that were published in May by the U.K. Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

For all the progress on boards, the number of female CEOs among the FTSE 100 remained at six for the third year in a row. Moya Greene stepped down as CEO from Royal Mail Plc in June and Carolyn McCall was replaced by a man at easyJet Plc.

Disparities also remain on pay. The U.K.’s Equal Pay Day on Saturday marked the point in the year corresponding with the average gender pay gap, after which women’s work can be seen as unpaid.

The U.K. has made a big push in recent years to boost equality for women in the workplace. A new law introduced in April forcing all companies with at least 250 employees to report average differences between men’s and women’s pay has increased transparency.

The pay gap shrunk from 18.6 per cent last year to17.9 per cent in 2018, the U.K. Office for National Statistics reported last month.