Diageo named top company for female representation at Board level in FTSE Women Leaders Review

For the third year in a row, Diageo has been named as the top company for female representation at Board level within the FTSE Women Leaders Review, with 63.6%.

Beyond the Board, Diageo has 42.3% female representation across leadership, placing it in 17th position in the overall rankings and 1st within our sector. Both achievements surpass the targets set by the FTSE Women Leaders.

The FTSE Women Leaders Review is the third iteration, previously the Hampton Alexander and Davies Review, of the independent, UK-government backed report that sets recommendations to FTSE 350 companies on how they can improve gender equality across Boards and Leadership positions.

This year’s review is particularly significant as the FTSE 350 in the aggregate will meet the 40% voluntary target for women on Boards three years ahead of the Review’s 2025 deadline. The previous 33% target set in 2016 was met at the end of 2020.

Louise Prashad, Chief HR Officer, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Denise Wilson and the FTSE Women Leaders team, as well as our peers, on meeting the 40% target for Women on Boards ahead of time. This is a fantastic achievement for everyone involved, however we cannot be complacent, and Diageo will continue to shape leading policies and practices to improve representation at every level.”

Diageo is committed to championing inclusion and diversity across our business, and accelerating female representation in leadership roles is key to this. We have set bold ambitions of having 50% representation of women in leadership roles and 45% from ethnically diverse backgrounds by 2030, as part of our ‘Spirit of Progress’ 10-year action plan.

As well as continuing to increase female representation across senior positions, our early careers programmes, including apprenticeships and scholarships, are also attracting more women into entry-level roles and helping to create a robust pipeline of talented women as future leaders. In the UK, Diageo is also supporting ‘The Creative Comeback’ programme for the fourth year in a row, which supports women back into the creative industries following a career break of a year or more for a range of circumstances.

The last 12 months have seen Diageo introduce a variety of new guidelines and initiatives to assist our ambition of creating the most supportive and inclusive environment. This includes; introducing Pregnancy Loss Guidelines and Disability Inclusion Guidelines, rolling out the Balance+ app to support all employees experiencing menopause, and launching Fertility Support Guidelines in the UK to assist all employees undergoing fertility treatment. Last month, Diageo was also included in Bloomberg’s Gender-Equality Index for the sixth consecutive year.

 

Read the full report here.