There are no women on the board of directors at one in four FTSE 100 companies.

The 2009 Female FTSE report from the Cranfield School of Management has shown that the number of women directors on FTSE 100 boards has remained the same as last year at 12.2%.

In the eleventh annual report that details the number of women directors in the top 100 FTSE companies, figures show that one in four companies have exclusively all-male boards.

The number of companies with female executive directors has fallen from 16 to 15, and the number of boards with multiple women directors has fallen to 37 from 39.

In total, there are currently 113 women holding 131 FTSE 100 directorships compared to 834 men holding 947 directorships.

There has also been a drop in the number of women holding key positions in FTSE 100 companies. Last year saw the highest number with five female CEOs and three regional CEOs. Today there are only four female CEOs.

Harriet Harman, Minister for Equality and Women, said: “When I drew up the Female FTSE Report in 1999, it was clear there was a lack of women in boardrooms. This report shows that we are moving in the right direction and there is still much more that needs to be done. 

“Businesses that run on the basis of an old boy network and do not draw on the talents of all the population will not be the ones that flourish and prosper in the 21st century.”

Another addition to this year’s report is a list of 100 ‘Women to Watch’.  There are now 2,281 women (up from 1,877 last year) on the corporate boards and executive committees/senior teams of all the FTSE listings. 

The report authors have identified 100 women who are currently on the executive committees of the FTSE 100 or 250 companies that should be seriously considered for boardroom appointments.

Just four firms had female chief executives – Alliance Trust, Burberry, Pearson and Anglo American, and within the FTSE 100’s five banks, just 9 % of board members are female, excluding Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland however, with no women at all on their boards.
Sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Sainsbury’s, Aviva and HSBC and Pearson, a copy of the report and 100 ‘Women to Watch’ is available here.