Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Women hold third of board roles at top UK firms

One in three board positions at the UK's biggest companies is now held by a woman, a government-backed review has found.

The Hampton-Alexander Review latest report found 349 women currently sit on boards at FTSE 100 firms.

The government said the review's "fantastic work" had seen it hit the target almost a year early.

But the review also highlighted a lack of women in senior and executive roles - making up 15% of finance directors.

That compared with women making up 66% of human resource directors, the report said.

The review's chief executive, Denise Wilson, told the BBC that problems such as unconscious bias and gender stereotypes around what a leader should look like were preventing further progress.

"I think 33% is a very good start, but as we can see, we have a lot further to go before we see a good gender balance in the leadership of British business," she said.

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsome said that businesses had achieved the one in three target voluntarily and without the need for legislation or fines but called on firms to do more.

"The Hampton-Alexander Review has done fantastic work but it's clear that women continue to face barriers to success, whether that's through promotion to key roles or how they are treated by colleagues," she added.

The Institute of Directors welcomed the report as evidence that focusing the spotlight on diversity could change the behaviour of big companies. However, it cautioned that it was not a case of job done.

Women on Boards UK chief executive Fiona Hathorn described progress outside the FTSE 350 - a longer list of leading firms - and in UK business as a whole, as glacial.

She called for the lens to move from the board alone to improving representation at the top levels of company management.


'Surprisingly challenging'

Francesca Ecsery, a director at an investment firm, says that men often still outnumber women in the boardroom because "change is painful".

"There is a huge value attributed to chemistry on the board, and of course chemistry you have, mainly, with people like you," she says. And that's not good for diversity, she adds.

Ms Ecsery never felt held back in her management consultancy and marketing careers. "I was always on the revenue side of a business, so provided I delivered, I was able to get ahead."

Later, she decided to seek non-executive director roles - and was astonished how hard they were to get.

"I found it surprisingly challenging. You read in the media that boards need women. I certainly thought that with my executive career and digital career, you know - I had big company and small company experience - but I could not get through."

Ms Ecsery attributes her breakthrough to targeting businesses which had followed good recruitment practices instead of "tapping people on the shoulder on the golf course".

She now serves on the boards of a range of companies including Air France and FTSE 250-listed F&C Investment Trust.

Trade union body the TUC has also called for further changes to the workplace to help boost female representation in top roles.

"Men are still seven times more likely to be finance directors than women," said TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady.

"The government won't be able to achieve gender equality unless it makes work more family-friendly, and unless it tackles sexist aggression towards women."


How did we get here?


Since 2011, two government-backed reviews have focused on boosting women's representation on the boards of UK-listed companies.

Under the Davies Review, which ran from 2011 to 2015, the proportion of women serving on FTSE 100 boards increased from 12% to 25%. The rise in the FTSE 250 was from 9% to 22%, still lagging the 33% target.

Its successor, the Hampton-Alexander Review, encourages FTSE 350 companies to meet a 33% target by the end of 2020. Unlike countries including France which have introduced quotas, it is voluntary.


Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×