BRITAIN’S 100 largest public companies have only nine women leaders in total, according to a new study by a local consultancy group.
There is not a single woman of colour leading a FTSE100 firm.
And all the nine women who do lead their firms score higher than their male counterparts when it comes to looking at their commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion.
It also reveals that women-led companies have addressed and made specific strategies to close the gap between men’s and women’s income for the same work.
The names of the nine female CEOs and their organisation are as follows.
Emma Walmsley of GSK top scored with 69 out of 100. The remaining women led-firms also scored highly as did Vodafone, which has just appointed Margherita Della Valla as its chief executive.
Only seven companies in the FTSE 100 index are led by ethnic minorities; Barclays, Diageo, Burberry, Smith+Nephew, Prudential, Fresnillo, and Airtel.
Companies led by CEOs with ethnic minority backgrounds have a big range of scores. Barclays is the only one that scored as a Leader with a 77 out of 100.
Reported in FTSE 100 Diversity Data 2023, it also found more leaders called Andrew or Simon than there were women doing the top job.
Since starting its diversity study five years ago, the Equality Group, which publishes the FTSE 100 Diversity Data 2023 has has collected the latest data on the diversity of CEOs in the FTSE 100 and a 29 per cent increase in the number of women leading firms and an increase of 40 per cent in ethnic minorities in attaining senior corporate positions.
Hephzi Pemberton, founder and CEO of Equality Group said: “Numerous studies have consistently demonstrated the positive impact of diversity on business performance. McKinsey (global business consultancy) research found that companies that have greater gender diversity in their top leadership teams are more profitable. Meanwhile, companies with an equal representation of men and with an equal representation of men and women on their boards achieved superior stock returns, according to Morningstar (investment firm & ratings agency).”
Both female and people of colour representation across senior corporate roles has increased by a third since 2021 – somewhat pushed by the Parker Review, the government’s own study of EDI in the City of London – and which recommended that at least one person of colour sit on a company’s board.
Pemberton pointed out that this has been achieved by having people of colour in non-executive roles and none in her company’s study were either CEO or CFO (chief financial officer).
The Equality Group which conducted the study uses its own EDI measurement tool – called Honordex – to evaluate a CEOs commitment to EDI and is constructed using public date, academic research and industry expertise.
FTSE100 refers to Financial Times 100 share index of 100 largest and most actively traded firm on the London Stock Exchange.
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