Women staking their claim in the boardroom

THE past 12 months have seen a record increase in the number of women making it into the boardrooms of the UK’s biggest companies, a report will show today.

Women now account for 15.6 per cent of all FTSE 100 directorships, up from 12.5 per cent a year ago, according to the first progress report by Lord Davies of Abersoch on his “Women on Boards” review.

The figures show 47 female appointments have been made since the publication of the report in February 2011. Just 11 all-male boards remain, down from 21 last year.

Cranfield School of Management’s “Female FTSE” report, also published today, points out that – if current momentum was maintained – more than a quarter of FTSE 100 board directors will be women by 2015.

Davies said: “We are finally seeing a culture change taking place at the very heart of British business in relation to how women are seen within the workforce.”

But he warned that “the speed of change needs to be accelerated if we’re to avoid UK government interference” on the issue.

In the two years before Davies’s review, the number of women directors had plateaued, stalling at less than a single percentage point rise year-on-year.

Amanda Mackenzie, chief marketing and communications officer at Aviva and a member of Davies’s review panel, said: “What has been achieved in year one is hugely encouraging, particularly for a generation of talented women who will form part of the diverse and better boards of the future.”