'Get more women directors'

THE Government is expected to throw down the gauntlet to British business this week to broaden the range of people appointed to boardrooms.

Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt has summoned business leaders to 11 Downing Street for a breakfast meeting on Tuesday to underline the Government's determination that the days of boardrooms dominated by white, middle-aged men should be numbered.

'The DTI is really worried about this,' said one participant. 'Hewitt is not happy. There is deep frustration at the failure to broaden the talent base.'

But research carried out for Financial Mail by voting service Manifest shows that there is still only a handful of women in really senior positions in British business.

Baroness Hogg, at 3i, remains the only woman chairman of a FTSE 100 company while Pearson's Dame Marjorie Scardino is the sole female chief executive.

There are now only nine female executives in the Footsie and though there are 78 non-executive posts held by women in large companies, this flatters the real state of affairs because some, such as Val Gooding, chief executive of Bupa, and Hogg have more than one boardroom role.

Importantly, the Manifest research reveals that many women non-executives are titled and ageing.

The need to broaden the boardroom talent pool was made more imperative following the Higgs report into corporate standards.

However, a government initiative spearheaded by Laura Tyson of the London Business School on ways to appoint a wider range of people has so far had little impact.

Hewitt is believed to want to encourage rather than compel boards to change.

Sarah Wilson, chief executive of Manifest, said headhunters were trying to include women's names on shortlists for board positions, but that City investors were reluctant to support the appointment of people they claim have 'a lack of brand awareness'.