Women on Boards
Ahead of International Women’s Day, Louis Cooper, one of our affiliates who specialises in Board, Non-Executive Director and Board Committee development and Governance, Risk and Assurance, has shared his thoughts on gender representation at Board level.
The Boardroom has long been seen as the domain of the “Old Boys Network” and consequently boards often reflected the ‘male, pale and stale’ label. A key element of the problem was the traditional ‘Chairman’ who tended to build a board in their own likeness. Acting as the boardroom gatekeeper they typically took the safe option of appointing men of a certain age (retired professionals) who would not rock the boat – saying yes rather than ask difficult or probing questions.
Whilst this still may characterise pockets of boardroom life there has been a real push for greater diversity, especially focused on gender equality as this is often referenced by a visual representation of a portrait of ‘the board of directors’. Boards should reflect the stakeholders’ (both internal and external) and the communities that they represent, and it therefore makes sense that both men and women have equal boardroom opportunity and status. Diversity of thought is often considered the essential ingredient and men and women working together on a board can bring this to life, providing fresh perspectives (the ‘Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus’ characterisation).
As noted by the 2025 FTSE Women Leaders Report, an annual review, published in February 2025: “ Since 2011 British business has been on a journey to achieve better gender balance through voluntary, business-led action with Government support; and the latest position shows a really positive momentum in the drive to increase the number of women at the highest level of British business as FTSE 350 companies report a year-on-year uplift in women on Boards (43%) and in Leadership roles (35%).”… However, the concern remains that there is a significant gap in the number of women holding executive board roles (one in six) compared to non-executive board roles (now at parity).
Large, listed companies have been set a target of at least 40% representation of women by the end of 2025 and as noted progress is being made; against this backdrop the UK is now considered a world leader for Women on Boards, second only to France in the G7 international rankings. Using this as a foundation the push needs to be for better gender representation at all levels of business and across all organisations, large and small. The progressive, new breed of Board Chairs seem to be open to boardroom realignment, but there also needs to be a vibrant pool of good candidates knocking on the door, at both Executive and Non-Executive levels. The latest news from the medical profession is that “Majority of doctors are women for the first time” (headline 6th March 2025)… the incentive should be for the ‘boardroom profession’ to seek to make a similar impression.
Natalie Brewer, our Chief Operating Officer, agrees with Louis Cooper. “It is great to see gender balance in non-executive board roles and we welcome the increasing number of women in senior leadership roles. At elephants child we are proud to work with many women who have founded and developed their own businesses, or who hold senior leadership roles in the organisations that we work with including Jo Hanslip at Urbanissta, Emma Barnes at Wild Fawn, Jen Raines at YRH Finance, Deborah Davey at The Rose Gallery, Leah Palmer at New College Swindon, Debbie O’Dell at Reach IT, Jo Calver at Calver Wealth Management, and Debbie Bray at Hook Research. We are also always keen to hear from more women who would like to join our herd of advisors or be one of our trusted affiliates. Please get in touch with me directly to find out more.”
You can find out more about the businesses we work with and how they’ve found working with elephants child here