Employment Law News

Davies Report on women on boards is published

Lord Davies’ final report on women on boards shows an increase in the number of women holding board-level positions but makes a number of recommendations for improvement.

The report was published on 26 October 2015 and showed that, as of 1 October 2015, no FTSE 100 companies had all-male boards and female representation on those boards was at 26.1%. This is a marked improvement on the 12.5% figure from February 2011. The report pointed to executive search companies as the driving force behind the improvement; investor communities, on the other hand, were found to be less supportive of change.

The picture was found to be less positive amongst FTSE 250 companies. Boards within that group had only 19.6% female representation and 15 all-male boards remained. The report also found that, whilst representation at board level has increased, significant room for improvement exists in respect of the number of females in executive roles (standing at only 9.6% in FTSE 100 companies).

The report did not feel that a quota would be necessary, instead recommending the continuation of the target-based, business-led approach. It suggested a target whereby all FTSE 350 firms have 33% female board representation within the next five years, with greater efforts being made to recruit more women into senior executive roles.

Women on Boards Davies Review: five year summary October 2015