Following the success of the Hampton-Alexander Review, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have announced that a new chair will be appointed to lead the FTSE Women Leaders Review, which aims to increase opportunities for women on boards of the UK’s top listed companies over the next 5 years.

In the UK in 2011, only 9% of women served on FTSE 350 boards. The Hampton-Alexander Review, which ran from 2015 to 2020, aimed to have women holding 33% of board positions by 2020. However, in its final report which was published earlier in 2021, it was revealed that this target had been exceeded, as 34.3% of FTSE 350 board positions were then held by women. Additionally, female representation was at 36.2 per cent in FTSE 100 companies and 33.2 per cent in FTSE 250 companies.

While it is not yet known the precise targets of the new review, some have suggested that it could focus on the roles women hold on FTSE boards and also aim to boost the number of Executive Director positions held by women.

Business minister Paul Scully has urged that:

“Companies shouldn’t take their foot off the gas. Evidence shows that more diverse businesses are more successful businesses – the case is too strong to ignore.”

The review is already welcoming submissions of gender diversity data from FTSE 350 companies, who can submit their gender diversity data via the FTSE Women Leaders Review online portal by 30th November 2021, and the next annual report is due to be published in February 2022.