Redressing the balance

29 April, 2015

Recent news that suggests a move in the right direction is that women now account for 23 per cent of all board seats in FTSE 100 manufacturers – up from 19 per cent in 2013 and 21 per cent last year. These figures are published in a new report by EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, sponsored by Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking. Two consecutive increases in the female share of directorships have kept Britain’s leading manufacturers in line with the wider FTSE 100 and on track to meet the minimum 25 per cent female board representation recommended by Lord Davies in his 2011 Women on Boards report.

The Women in Manufacturing report is the third annual assessment of female boardroom representation in the sector and the further efforts required to attract and retain talented women. This year its findings are particularly important as the deadline is fast-looming for all FTSE 100 companies to meet the Davies target. Over a quarter (28 per cent) of FTSE 100 manufacturing companies are at or above this target. But some companies are far ahead of the game. GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever and Diageo all have five female board members each but, Diageo, with 45 per cent or five of its 11 board members being female, leads the way. In total, women hold 64 out of 279 directorships in FTSE 100 manufacturers and, for the second year running, all these companies – 25 in total - have at least one woman on their board. At the same time, the percentage of new board appointments going to women has increased to 25 per cent (up from 19 per cent last year), a step in the right direction if FTSE 100 manufacturers are to achieve the one-third new appointments target recommended by Lord Davies.

However, the split between executive and non-executive roles remains a challenge for the sector. While the female share of non-executive roles has increased (up from 25 per cent last year to 28 per cent today), their share of executive roles remains stubbornly static at 8 per cent. Only five of the 25 FTSE 100 manufacturing companies have a female executive director.

The report points to this being a symptom of a wider challenge. Women accounted for only 7 per cent of those starting an ‘Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies’ apprenticeship in 2012/13 and continue to make up only 23 per cent of the manufacturing workforce. This suggests that there is not a ‘short-term fix’ on the horizon. Instead, the focus must be on building the overall talent pipeline, while addressing the worryingly low number of women within it.

Unless the manufacturing and engineering sector can make itself more attractive to young women looking for a life-long, fulfilling and rewarding career female apprentices and graduates will remain at a relatively low level, resulting in an under-representation of women at board level as these people work their way through the ranks. This is not only a potential loss for ambitious and talented young women, but also for our industry as a whole going forward. It’s time to redress the balance.

Ed Holden

Editor