Majority of boardrooms fail to meet targets on gender balance

JUST four in 10 boardrooms are complying with a government-led recommendation that all major companies should have at least 33 per cent woman representation.

The latest figures indicate an increase in representation of women on the boards of the UK’S 350 biggest companies, with a 3.8% rise in the past year.

However, 41% of FTSE-350 companies have not met the target of 33% woman representation.

According to analysis, the boards of the country’s 100 biggest firms are faring slightly better with women taking on 36% of current board roles.

But this falls well short of a 50-50 boardroom split, which just nine out of 100 companies have achieved, according to the report by graduate recruitment firm Debut.

The Employer Insights study revealed mining firm Antofagasta had the least diverse boardroom out of the FTSE-100 with just two out of 10 members being women.

It was followed by Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment with three women on the 14-strong board. Meanwhile, IT giant Aveva, steelmakers Evraz, mining firm Glencore and tobacco group Imperial Brands had two out of nine of the leadership being female.

Drinks giant Diageo was identified as having the “most diverse” boardroom, with five of the eight directors being women.

Also “leading the way” according to the analysis was advertings firm Auto Trader Group, property website Rightmove, water company Severn Trent and housebuilding giant Taylor Wimpey who all had more women than men in the boardroom.

Across sectors, the construction and materials industry was the only one to achieve a 50-50 male-female split at boardroom level, closely followed by oil and gas producers (46% female) and media and personal goods (both 45%).

But Debut said 11 (28%) of industries still fell below the government target, with those in the industrial metals and mining industry having the fewest female board members (22%), followed by food producers (25%) and food and drug retailers (28%).

A Debut spokesman said: “The boardrooms of the country’s top businesses have long been maledominated spaces, with the government recommending back in 2015 that the boards of all FTSE-350 companies should be 33% by 2020.

“Looking at the current make-up of the boards of the FTSE-100 reveals that, on the whole, things do seem to be improving. However, just nine out of 100 companies have achieved a 50-50 split in the board room and almost a third of companies are yet to meet the 33% target.”

The minimum target for women on FTSE-350 boards and in senior leadership two layers below the board was set in 2016 by the independent, government-sponsored Hampton-alexander Review.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma has been pushing for all companies to take action to ensure they meet the 33% target ahead by the end of the year.

The figures also revealed 18 boards within the country’s 250 biggest companies remained “one and done” boards, where companies appoint a single woman board member and go no further.

Antofagasta’s annual 2019 annual report stated: “Gender diversity is an important part of the group’s diversity objectives. Two of the five board appointees since 2014 have been women and the board actively seeks to increase female representation beyond the current level, while ensuring appointments continue to be made on merit.”

A separate survey found the gender pay gap had narrowed sharply last year, due to more women moving into boardroom level jobs.

It found that, on average, a woman working full-time was paid 7.4 per cent less than her male counterpart, a fall from 9% the year before.

The margin has more than halved since the start of the millennium.

And the biggest boost for female workers in the year to April was in pay rates for company directors, managers and senior officials, the Office for National Statistics said.

These roles saw the pay gap narrow from 16.3% to 9.9%, reflecting “some signs of more women holding higher-paid managerial roles”.