Diageo receives double recognition for its progress regarding gender equality

We are delighted to have received two excellent recognitions regarding our gender equality work, from the FTSE Women Leaders Review and Equileap’s Gender Equality Global Report. This reflects Diageo’s progress towards championing gender equality across the business, as part of our commitment to nurturing the most inclusive and diverse culture.

On Tuesday, Diageo was named as the number two company for female representation at Board level within the FTSE Women Leaders Review, with 70%. Diageo also ranked number eight for female representation across leadership, with 45.6%. This marks a positive shift after Diageo ranked 17^th place in 2023, with Diageo already ahead of the FTSE Women Leaders Review’s target of having 40% of women in leadership positions by 2025.

Separately, on Thursday, Diageo ranked as the number three company in Equileap’s Global Report, as well as ranking number one in the UK. This is the second consecutive year that Diageo has topped the UK ranking, with Diageo’s overall score also improving from 75% in 2023 to 79%. The Global Report case studied Diageo, praising the company’s transparency over gender pay gap, the company’s market-leading parental leave policy, as well as its flexible working hours and locations.

Our Progress

Not only is 70% of our board female, but representation of women in our leadership, including our Executive Committee, remains strong at 44% (June 2023). However, we are not complacent, and we have stretching ambitions for our leadership group to be 50% female by 2030, as well as 45% from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Our commitments don’t just stop at the leadership group, and we know that to be truly gender equal and inclusive we must make fundamental changes to our policies, we must demonstrate our commitment through our approach to advertising, and we have to break down barriers for women in the communities in which we operate.

Our ERGs continue to help us develop progressive policies and practices that help our business to grow. This includes including ‘Pregnancy Loss’ Guidelines and enhanced bereavement leave, 'Domestic and Family Abuse' Guidelines, created in partnership with CARE International, Gender Expression and Identity Guidelines, as well Fertility Support Guidelines that were launched last year in the UK.

In F23, 47% of our global marketing campaigns were shot by a female director or photographer, we increased our global spend on diverse-owned suppliers to 6.3%, and 59% of people we reached through our Learning for Life career programme were women.

We’re proud of our progress, but change doesn’t happen overnight and we’re constantly learning and striving to do more.

Methodologies

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.

Equileap’s Gender Equality Global Report is an in-depth analysis of gender equality in companies globally, presenting the top 100 companies that score the highest. This year, the research examined 3,795 publicly listed companies, representing 103 million employees across 24 countries.

Companies are scored based on 21 criteria, including Gender Balance in Leadership and Workforce; Equal Compensation & Work Life Balance; and Policies Promoting Gender Equality.

Find out more about our commitment to Inclusion and Diversity