British grocery retailers and suppliers have featured high on this year’s FTSE female leaders ranking – with drinks giant Diageo taking the top spot.
Marks & Spencer also cracked the top 10 in this year’s list, standing in sixth place, while Durex owner Reckitt Benckiser took 12th place in the benchmark that ranks the UK’s biggest companies by the percentage of women on leadership roles.
Top British companies are continuing to lead the way for gender equality in boardrooms, with women now occupying over 43% of roles on company boards – against the benchmark target of 40% women’s representation – according to the annual FTSE Women Leaders Review report published on Tuesday.
Reported numbers for women on boards of FTSE 100 companies was at 44.7% in 2024, up from 42.6% in 2023.
Frontrunner Diageo, led by CEO Debra Crew, boasts seven women out of 10 members of its board, and a 49.5% gender parity rate in combined executive committee and direct report roles.
M&S meanwhile reported 54% of female roles across executive committee and direct reports, with six in 10 board members being women.
Associated British Food, Tesco and Sainsbury’s all made it to the top 50.
Meanwhile, the Co-op snagged top spot in the Top 50 Private Companies list, which is now in its third year of reporting. Morrisons stood in seventh place, with both supermarkets having a high percentage of women in their boards and in executive director roles.
Private companies were “keeping pace with the FTSE 100 and are currently reporting 35% of executive committee roles are held by women”, said Bina Mehta, chair of KPMG, which partnered with the government and Lloyds to conduct the analysis.
This year’s results show a major improvement from when the review started in 2011, when only 9.5% of FTSE 350 board members were women.
Women now occupy 1,275, or 43%, of roles on company boards and 6,743 (35%) of leadership roles at the 350 FTSE companies.
Almost three-quarters of FTSE 350 boards (73.4%) have now met or exceeded the current 40% target, with that number now standing at 257, up from 235 in 2023, the report showed.
Still, the government recognised “there is still more to do to bring more women into roles such as company chairs and CEOs and to increase the number of women on boards and in leadership who hold executive roles”.
It said it would work with FTSE companies and other organisations “to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve their full potential based on their talent”.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said of the results: “The UK is leading the charge for gender equality in boardrooms, but we cannot rest on our laurels.
“We must break down the barriers that stop many women being represented in decision-making roles, so that top talent reaches the highest levels of leadership in businesses driving economic growth across Britain.”
The review also comes at a time when efforts to bolster diversity and inclusion across companies are being put to test by the “anti-woke” rhetoric in the US, largely driven by president Donald Trump.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has also taken jabs at DEI measures in the workplace, and claimed maternity pay in the UK had gone too far.
Poppy Gustafsson, Labour minister for investment, said: “I know from founding my own business how strong female voices inspire positive change throughout an organisation, bringing new ideas and adding greater value.
“The UK’s approach to gender equality in boardrooms is setting an international precedent for inclusive business, coming second only to France in the G7, with 43.4% representation compared to 45.4%.
“Whilst France and many other countries employ the use of quotas, the action taken by British companies has been entirely voluntary demonstrating the ability of the private sector to lead the way, alongside government support, but without overburdening regulation.”
She added the government’s flagship Employment Rights Bill and Plan to Make Work Pay would further strengthen women’s rights in the workplace and increase protections for women going through the menopause, as well as protections from dismissal while pregnant or on maternity leave.
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