Women in the City | informs, innovates, inspires

FTSE 350 urged to step up to meet 2020 women on boards targets

Figures released on 27 June by the Hampton-Alexander Review show 29% of FTSE 100 board positions are held by women. More women than ever before are on the boards of the UK’s largest companies but they still have some way to go to meet the target of 33% women by 2020, according to new data […]

UK authorised fund managers seeking (female) NEDs

In April 2018, the Financial Conduct Authority — as part of a raft of far-reaching changes — confirmed all UK authorised fund managers (AFMs) would have to include a minimum of two non-executive directors on their boards. Since then, research organisation, UK Fund Boards has been unpicking what this is all going to mean for […]

Pathetic explanations revealed for why we can’t have women on boards

Despite a major drop in the number of top companies with all-male boards, many are still refusing to move with the times – and some of the worst explanations firms have made for not having women among their top employees were revealed at the end of May. Outrageous explanations for not appointing more women […]

Investment index will rank companies against 4 diversity measures

Dame Helena Morrissey, head of personal investing at Legal & General and its fund management arm have launched the first UK fund to invest in companies entirely based on how well they do in gender diversity. At a launch event held on 17 May, Morrissey said: Gender inequality has been a key issue of our […]

Men as Change Agents

The latest Hampton-Alexander report issued in November 2017 highlights the continuing progress being made in achieving a gender balance in business leadership. The immediate goal remains to achieve 33% of women on Executive Committees and their Direct Reports by 2020. However, as the Women’s Business Council (WBC) recent report ‘The Pipeline Effect’ points out […]

100% of UK employers have published gender pay gap data

Three out of four employers pay their male staff more on average than their female staff All 10,000 UK employers that the Government has identified as having over 250 workers have now published their gender pay gap data which show that more than three out of four in scope UK companies pay their male staff […]

Five-point plan to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace

The Government, regulators and employers are failing in their responsibilities to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace, says the Women and Equalities Committee in their report, following a wide-ranging six-month inquiry. The Committee finds that sexual harassment at work is widespread and commonplace but there has been a failure to tackle unlawful behaviours, despite the Government’s […]

Alpha-male culture prevents women from progressing in financial services

Abolish ‘alpha-male’ culture in finance and encourage the progression of women to senior levels says a Treasury Committee report calling for the reform of bonus negotiations and promotion of flexible working. Key recommendations Assess bonuses against clear criteria to abolish ‘alpha-male’ culture Remove stigma of flexible working by senior men leading by example Encourage firms to publish strategies […]

Executive ranks of top UK firms lack females

Despite progress in female representation on non-executive board positions, this year’s Female FTSE Board Index Female compiled by Cranfield University School of Management has identified the continued lack of women in executive roles on boards of the UK’s leading companies. In a 48-page detailed analysis, experts from the school’s International Centre for Women Leaders […]

Progress on getting more women onto executive committees too slow

Progress is flatlining at 16% The Women Count 2018 Report published in July by The Pipeline unpacks the status of women in FTSE 350 firms, the number of women on executive committees, and the correlation between female representation and economic performance. It finds that businesses where at least 25% of decision-makers are women significantly outperform […]