Call for more women on boards

Companies are to be urged to increase the number of women on their boards. Former trade minister Lord Davies is expected to call today for a fifth of FTSE 350 board members to be women by 2013, rising to a quarter by 2015.

Head-hunters and shareholders will be asked to sign up to a new code of conduct, and chairmen will be urged to be more adventurous when appointing non-executive directors. Women account for only 12.5 per cent of directors of FTSE 100 firms, and forecasts say it will take 70 years before women hold half of all posts at blue-chip companies.