AT LEAST one board member from an ethnically diverse background is currently present in two-thirds of FTSE 350 businesses, up significantly from 45 per cent in 2021, recent research discovered.
However, firms in the Alternative Investment Market are struggling to keep up.
According to a study by Thomson Reuters (Annual Reporting and AGMs 2022), FTSE 100 companies perform the best in terms of the representation of different racial and ethnic groups at senior levels, with 84 per cent having at least one board member with a diverse racial or ethnic background, compared to 55 per cent in the FTSE 250.
The gender composition of boards was also examined in the study. In 2022, 417 directorships are being held by women, the study revealed, making up 40 per cent of the board of directors of FTSE 100 firms. This was an increase from 2021 when 39 per cent of director posts were held by women. The ratio was 35 per cent in 2020.
Every FTSE 100 business currently has at least two female board members. Women hold 36 per cent of all board posts for the FTSE 250, an increase from 32 per cent in 2021 and 30 per cent in 2020.
The average number of executive roles held by women in FTSE 250 businesses is 13 per cent, which is lower than the average for the FTSE 100 at 16 per cent. Nearly a fifth of FTSE 250 companies (44 per cent) stated that at least one of their executive directors was a woman.
Just 16 of the 100 largest businesses in the UK’s FTSE index fell short of the Hampton-Alexander aim of at least 33 per cent female directors on boards. 57 businesses have complied with the FTSE Women Leaders Review’s recommendation that boards have at least 40 per cent female representation. The survey found that this was a significantly larger growth than the 46 firms in 2021.
Five FTSE 100 businesses currently have boards with more than 50 per cent female representation, compared to two in 2021. Diageo (64 per cent), Auto Trader (56 per cent), Shell (55 per cent), Admiral (55 per cent) and Phoenix Group Holdings (54 per cent) are among them.
Eight other businesses—F&C Investment Trust, Schroders, Pearson, Croda International, Rightmove, Centrica, Halma, and 3i Group—have boards where women make up half of the board members.
Women make up just 20 per cent of the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) UK 50 boards, which means that businesses listed on the AIM have not achieved nearly as much progress in board diversity as those on the main market. Just 72 women occupy the 354 board positions that were looked at in the research.
Only eight of these executive director positions are held by women, and 64 of those positions are non-executive directorships. No AIM business examined in the report had a board with more than three women.
The Alternative Investment Market (AIM) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) that is designed to help smaller companies access capital from the public market.
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