The number of female FTSE board members rose in 2023 but there are still not enough women bosses at these companies, new research has found.
Some 40% of the 565 FTSE All-Share company directors are women, up from 36% last year.
Women working in senior positions such as chairs, chief executives, finance officers and senior independent directors has stagnated however, with just a tenth of these roles filled by females.
Company boards should be made up of 40% women and at least one female should hold a senior role, the rules of the Financial Conduct Authority state.
Even so, some 40 of FTSE 100 firms have failed to appoint a female to one of these senior roles, insight from campaigners Women on Board revealed.
Offenders include:
- British Land Company PLC (LSE:BLND)
- Barratt Developments PLC (LSE:BDEV)
- Persimmon PLC (LSE:PSN)
- Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA)
- Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY)
- Hiscox Ltd (LSE:HSX)
- Legal & General Group PLC (LSE:LGEN)
- Compass Group PLC (LSE:CPG)
- Ocado Group PLC (LSE:OCDO)
- Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO)
- Rio Tinto PLC (LSE:RIO)
- Antofagasta PLC (LSE:ANTO)
- Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL)
Fiona Hathorn, chief executive officer at Women on Boards has welcomed the progress made by firms outside of the FTSE 350 to appoint female non-executive directors.
However, she added: “Just having women in non-executive director roles is not sufficient to have an impact on the executive pipeline … We don’t have the women’s strong voice in the boardroom.”