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
For fifteen years the Women Business Leaders Review and its previous iterations (the Davies Review, Hampton-Alexander Review and FTSE Women Leaders Review) have strived to deliver sustainable gender balance at the top of UK business.
Having achieved gender balance on Boards, and made huge progress in broader leadership, the next phase of the Review is focussed on steps that will ensure progress to date is sustained, and there is further movement on the key CEO, CFO and Chair roles where progress has been slower and women remain significantly under-represented.
The Review’s work and specifically its Recommendations for business are designed to support building a sustainable pipeline for the future.
The Women Business Leaders Review Recommendations are:
- 40% gender balance on boards. The Review Recommendation is a balance of 40%-60% of either gender on boards. This provides a pragmatic balance and also addresses situations where boards are made up of uneven and/or small numbers.
- 40% gender balance in leadership. While great progress has been made, there is more to do to achieve 40% gender balance. The Review Recommendation is a balance of 40-60% of either gender in leadership teams.
- Focus on balance in pipelines to CEO and CFO. Boards are asked to pay specific attention to how long term balanced pathways can be developed and the Review will support his work with its research and advocacy. To this end the Review will being collecting data in relation to P&L/commercial facing leadership roles in addition to the functional roles, to help long term understanding of balance in pipelines.
- Four Key Roles. Our Recommendation remains unchanged, and businesses are encouraged to have at least one woman in the Chair/Senior Independent Director role on the Board, and/or one woman in the CEO/Finance Director role. Over time, we wish to see greater balance in each of the key roles, and encourage boards to focus on gender balance in pipelines and shortlists.
- 100 Largest Private Businesses. Growing the 50 largest private businesses to 100 is the next step in engaging the growing importance and economic contribution of the private businesses in the journey to balanced boards and leadership.
