About Us
The Women Business Leaders Review is the independent, business-led framework supported by Government which sets recommendations to improve the representation of women on the Boards and Leadership teams of the FTSE 350 and 100 of the UK’s largest private companies.
The Review builds on the work of the FTSE Women Leaders, Hampton-Alexander and Davies Reviews which preceded it. It is based on a unique approach in that it is voluntary and data-led and works with business on a significant scale.
Our Aim
The goal has always been a simple yet important one – to improve the representation of women on Boards and in Leadership positions. Our approach is unique; the Review is led by business for the benefit of business and adopts an entirely voluntary approach, therefore avoiding quotas.
Since the start of the Review in 2011 there has been a sea-change in the gender balance of UK boards from 9.5% FTSE 350 women board members in 2011, to over 43% today. FTSE 350 companies achieved the 40% women on Boards target three years ahead of the deadline, demonstrating what can be done when we work together on a shared ambition.
In 2022 we went further to expand the scope of the Review to include 50 of the UK’s largest private companies, encouraging greater progress across UK business.
The focus now is on achieving 40% women’s representation in Leadership (defined as the Executive Committee and their Direct Reports) and increasing women appointments in the ‘four key roles’ of Chair, Senior Independent Director, CEO and Finance Director.
Our Work
The Review gathers data from FTSE 350 companies and private companies in scope on over 27,000 roles on boards and in leadership roles (defined as the Executive Committee and their direct reports). It adopts a voluntary approach, encouraging progress, the sharing of best practise and publishes progress against Women on Boards and Women in Leadership on an annual basis.
The Review’s Chair, Penny James, joins Chief Executive Vivienne Artz and team to lead the work of the Review, supported by business sponsors, the Department for Business, Innovation, Science & Trade and the Office for Equality and Opportunity.
Our Recommendations
To deliver gender equality on the boards and leadership teams of the FTSE 350 and the UK’s largest private companies the Review is focused on the following recommendations:
- 40% gender balance. The Review recommendation is a balance of 40%-60% of either gender for boards and leadership. This provides a pragmatic balance which can be achieved when boards and leadership teams are made up of uneven and also small numbers.
- Focus on women in executive roles. On boards, parity has been achieved for non-executive director roles, but progress on executive director roles has been much slower. In leadership, the focus on P&L roles is important to strengthen the pipeline to the most impactful leadership roles, particularly CEO.
- Four Key Roles. While progress to parity for the Senior Independent Director role has been achieved, the progress on Chair, CEO and Finance Director has been considerably slower and will require sustained focus to increase representation in these roles. Currently, the vast majority of firms have just one woman in a key role, falling short of the recommended two women in key roles (i.e. Chair/SID and CEO/FD).
- 100 Private Companies. Growing the 50 largest private companies to 100 is the next step in engaging the growing importance and economic contribution of the private sector in the journey to balanced boards and leadership.
