Report from Women on Boards and Protiviti reveals half of FTSE All Share companies outside the top 350 have no female board directors.

Creating an organisation where women hold senior leadership positions in proportionate numbers should be considered a major change programme.

Research shows that FTSE SMC/AIM firms lag behind the FTSE 350 on boardroom diversity. Yet biggest does not need to be best in this field.

We need a renewed focus on the representation of both gender and ethnicity on boards, ensuring targets are comparable and given equal profile.

Despite evidence that diversity leads to better business outcomes, the Covid-19 pandemic threatens progress in this area—and thereby risks the recovery.

Many directors are struggling with decision-making when the data changes daily. Boards should take a “roughly right” approach to keep moving forwards.

The latest Hampton-Alexander review reveals that women have reached a major milestone on FTSE 100 boards, but still fail to win CEO or chair positions in significant numbers.