Following the Cranfield University School of Management’s latest update on the number of women on boards, enei chief executive Denise Keating commented:

“It is very good to see that such great progress has been made on the issue of low representation of women on the boards of the country’s biggest employers, with 23.5 percent of all board positions being occupied by women. The fact that this has been achieved on a voluntary basis backs enei’s position that mandatory quotas are not the way forward on this issue, and organisations such as the 30 percent Club must be applauded for their efforts in keeping this issue in the spotlight.

“That said, only 24 of the 263 roles held by women are executive level roles with 239 being non-executive, which means there is only a 2 percent representation of women at executive level in the Boardroom.  This highlights the massive issue we have in the UK with the talent pipeline which is clearly non-existent and there continues to be a lack of accountability by organisations to address this. Women’s development paths and the barriers to employment faced by women must be addressed in order to resolve this issue and deliver a percentage of executive women on boards that is truly representative of the UK population.  Perhaps the 5 role model female chief executives in the 100 FTSE companies can influence this agenda.”