Women on boards quotas 'unlikely'

The former bank chief charged by the Government with getting more women serving on company boards has signalled that he is unlikely to recommend fixed quotas for female directors.

Lord Davies of Abersoch, the former trade minister and ex-chief executive of Standard Chartered, said that while he had not ruled out quotas, he was “not convinced” that they represented the best way forward.

Instead, he suggested that opening up the recruitment process for senior appointments, making it more transparent, could be a better option.

Lord Davies is due to deliver his final report to Business Secretary Vince Cable in February.

Writing on The Guardian website’s Comment is Free section, he said: “Quotas have proved successful in some countries but many of the women I have spoken with are against these. I have not ruled them out as a recommendation but at the moment I am not convinced that they are the right method to encourage progress.

“Female executives need to be recognised for the talent and skills that they possess. I know there is a multitude of women ready for board appointments, but from the conversations I have had it seems the root of the problem may be accessing this pool of talent.”

Lord Davies dismissed suggestions by “some old-fashioned chairmen” that there was a lack of female executives capable of taking on top-level boardroom appointments.

He said that among the proposals his review group had considered were increasing the transparency of appointments through nominations committees, a code of best practice for head-hunters, and the creation of an academy for female executives.

“There needs to be more pressure on companies to open up their recruitment process and to bring women up the ranks from within the business,” he said.

“Companies could be required to provide board internships to give senior staff the experience of what it means to be on a board.”