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CBI COMMENTS ON CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY FEMALE FTSE BOARD REPORT

3 Dec 2010 11:39 AM
The CBI yesterday commented on Cranfield University’s report The Female FTSE Board Report 2010, Opening Up the Appointment Process, which reveals that 12.5% of FTSE 100 directorships are held by women.

Katja Hall, CBI Director of Employment Policy, said:

“Many companies are already taking steps to boost the number of women in the boardroom, but these figures show that more needs to be done.

“Given that different firms face different challenges in attracting and developing women at various levels of the business, a flexible approach is necessary.

“Companies should be able to set their own targets for female representation at board level, which reflect their circumstances. For example, when only one in ten engineering graduates is female, an engineering firm may struggle to attract a big enough pool of women that can progress through the ranks to board level. That is why imposing a blanket target for boardroom diversity is not realistic.”


Notes to Editors:
The CBI is the UK's leading business organisation, speaking for some 240,000 businesses that together employ around a third of the private sector workforce. With offices across the UK as well as representation in Brussels, Washington, Beijing and Delhi the CBI communicates the British business voice around the world.

Media Contact:
CBI Press Office on 020 7395 8239, or out of hours pager on 07623 977854, email:press.office@cbi.org.uk