Jump in female and foreign directors on big UK firms’ boards
Britain is increasingly the home of international business, as the UK’s biggest firms have four-times more foreign directors than their US counterparts.
And female representation on boards is also growing strongly
One-third of FTSE 150 directors are non-UK citizens, compared with just eight per cent of S&P 200 board members in the US, Spencer Stuart’s 2014 UK Board Index showed today.
And the trend for hiring global talent is growing – 41 per cent of new directors appointed in the last year are not British citizens.
Female representation increased to 29.6 per cent, up from 23 per cent a year ago. That is also accelerating, as 35.5 per cent of new non-executives appointed in the past year are female.
“There is still a mountain to climb to achieve true diversity across UK boardrooms,” said Spencer Stuart’s Tessa Bamford, noting the lack of female executives who could later take positions on boards.