Women on FTSE 350 Boards Make Gains in Line With Tougher U.K. Gender Diversity Requirements

Below is an excerpt from ISS-Corporate’s recently released paper “Women on FTSE 350 Boards Make Gains in Line With Tougher U.K. Gender Diversity Requirements”. The full paper is available for download from the ISS-Corporate online library.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Gender diversity requirements for premium and standard listed companies in the U.K. were raised in April 2022, including a requirement that at least 40% of boards be comprised by women.
• The representation of women on FTSE 350 boards has increased over the past five years.
• The Utilities sector has the highest average percentage of women on boards in the FTSE 350. Companies in the sector include Severn Trent plc, which has a female CEO, CFO and Chair.
• The majority of FTSE 350 boards comply with the tougher requirements, though approximately 37.5% of them do not.

Introduction

Companies in the U.K. and Ireland face heightened expectations from investors for gender diversity in line with the issue’s growing importance for companies. An increasing number of companies have developed their diversity goals in line with their enhanced ESG programs, and some have even linked their executives’ variable pay with meeting their own diversity objectives. While furthering diversity, equity and inclusion used to be optional for companies, it is now a primary requirement that applies to most listed companies.

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