Women occupy more than two in five seats on the boards of Britain’s biggest listed companies after further progress was made last year, but the number of female FTSE 100 chief executives dipped for a time to fewer than 10, according to a report.
The proportion of board positions held by women at FTSE 350 companies rose to a new all-time high of 43.4% last year, up from 42.1% in 2023, according to the government-backed annual FTSE Women Leaders Review.
The report, sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group and the consultancy KPMG, shows that women occupied 1,275 of roles on company boards and 6,743 (35%) of leadership roles at the 350 FTSE companies last year.
The female FTSE 100 CEOs are Emma Walmsley at GSK, Jennie Daly at Taylor Wimpey, Amanda Blanc at Aviva, Debra Crew at Diageo, Liv Garfield at Severn Trent, Louise Beardmore at United Utilities, Margherita Della Valle at Vodafone, Milena Mondini at Admiral Group and Allison Kirkby at BT.
France has 45.4% female representation on company boards and has used quotas, along with other countries, while the UK target of 40% female boardroom representation by the end of this year is voluntary.
