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Experts appointed to review female representation among FTSE 350 executives


GlaxoSmithKline chair Sir Philip Hampton will lead an independent review aimed at increasing female representation at executive level on the boards of FTSE 350-listed companies, the UK government has announced.

The businessman and former chair of RBS and Sainsbury's was appointed due to his experience and "impressive track record of creating a culture where women can thrive and succeed", according to UK business secretary Sajid Javid. Dame Helen Alexander, chair of media group UBM, will act as deputy chair of the review.

Employment law and diversity expert Linda Jones of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the new review would raise "quite different" issues from those uncovered by Lord Davies' Women on Boards Review, a voluntary business-led initiative through which female representation on the boards of FTSE 100-listed companies rose from 12.5% in 2011 to over a target of 25% by 2015.

"On the face of it the Davies Review was a success, but the majority of appointments onto FTSE 100 boards have been of non-executives and there has been very little progress with senior female executive appointments," she said.

"We know from the work that we've done at Pinsent Masons that stopping major leakage from the female talent pipeline requires significant culture change which won't happen overnight in large businesses, so it will be interesting to see how Sir Philip and his team approach this challenge. The issues will be quite different to simply finding female non-executive directors to sit on boards," she said.

Published in February 2011, the Davies Review was a voluntary initiative aimed at increasing diversity on UK corporate boards. By the time of Lord Davies' final report in October 2015, female representation had more than doubled to 26.1% on the boards of the FTSE 100 largest companies by share value, and there was at least one woman on the boards of every one of those companies.

The next phase of the review will build on Lord Davies' final recommendations by focusing on gender representation at the executive level, immediately below the company board. This will include encouraging the appointment of senior women already working within FTSE 350 companies to executive director positions, building a 'pipeline' of female non-executive directors (NEDs) and encouraging women currently serving as NEDs to progress to chair and senior independent director appointments.

Terms of reference for the next stage of the review will be finalised shortly, according to the government's announcement.

"Having more women on FTSE boards allows companies to benefit from the enormous wealth of talent these women offer, and means these women can act as powerful role models for the next generation of girls," said Nicky Morgan, the women and equalities minister.

"We have come a long way but we must do more to make sure women everywhere are able to fulfil their potential. I want to see an end to all male boards anywhere on the FTSE 350, and much more progress at the executive layer where we know progress has been slowest to date. Men have a critical role to play in this, and I look forward to working with Sir Philip and his team on this incredibly important agenda," she said.

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