Hastings argues that it has recently interviewed two women who were “too busy or conflicted”.
Katushka Giltsoff, a senior partner at executive search firm The Miles Partnership, encouraged institutional investors to shun these firms: "Personally I would encourage people to think twice about investing in companies that are not prepared to reflect society as a whole."
Mervyn Davies, the architect of a government drive to get more women onto main boards in the UK, has already expressed his disappointment at the fact that a number of companies have recently been floated without any female representation.
However, earlier this week landlord Grainger became the first FTSE company to boast female executives in each of its top positions as new finance director Vanessa Simms was appointed alongside chief Helen Gordon and chair Baroness (Margaret) Ford.
According to data collected by Financial News only 13.6% of the directors of companies floated in London last year were women, a lot lower than the figure for FTSE 100 companies, which is closer to 25%.
Both the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Conduct Authority said they were in favour of more diverse boards but they each added that they had no regulatory powers to make it happen.
