More needs to be done to increase the number of women on Britain’s boards, according to Katja Hall, chief policy director at the CBI.

This week a progress report on Lord Davies’s independent review into women on boards published by Cranfield School of Management has revealed the number of women now holding FTSE 100 board directorships is 155 out of a total of 1,092 positions (14.2%). This is up from the 12.5% published in the 2010 Female FTSE report from Cranfield (December 2010). 

Hall says: “Lord Davies’ review is starting to bring about change in boardrooms, with nearly a third of FTSE 100 firms already setting their own targets for increasing female representation.

“At the end of 2010, there were 88 women on FTSE 100 boards, rising to 156 by the end of August 2011. This shows progress is being made, but more needs to be done to build a strong pipeline for female talent to reach the top.

“The voluntary approach is starting to pay off and therefore proposals to introduce mandatory quotas are unnecessary and would smack of tokenism.”