Our Partners
There are many organisations large and small, plus individual business men and women, whose efforts on the subject of Women on Boards and in gender balance in senior leadership are contributing a change in the culture at the very top of British business. They are too numerous to mention individually, but here are a few of those partners we have worked most closely with and who have donated freely of their resources to help make gender inequality in the boardroom a topic of the past.
Our sincere thanks to all our partners.
Corporate Partners
KPMG are corporate sponsors of the Hampton Alexander Review and we have been fortunate to work with them during the year.
Supporting the advancement of women is a critical part of KPMG’s business strategy with collaboration at the heart of the inclusion, diversity and social equality efforts. Along with being proud sponsor of the Hampton-Alexander Review since 2016, KPMG:
- are a signatory of the Women in Finance Charter;
- are a signatory of the Tech Talent Charter, which seeks to increase the number of women in the UK’s technology industry;
- participate in the 30% Club Cross Company Mentoring scheme;
- launched our Fairer Futures Campaign – to improve inclusion, diversity and social equality inside our organisation and more broadly in society by working with clients, suppliers and other businesses
KPMG is recognised for its leadership in promoting the wider inclusion agenda including featuring in the Times Top 50 Employers for Women since inception, being ranked in the Stonewall Top 100, and in 2018, being named ‘Influential Business of the Year’ in the Disability Smart Awards, Best Employer for Race in the Business In the Community awards, and ranking number one in the Social Mobility Employer Index.
While Lloyds Banking Group has provided support to the review over the last few years, this year we are excited to be working with them as our new formal corporate sponsors, alongside KPMG.
Lloyds Banking Group has committed to becoming a leader in gender diversity as it recognises that companies with proportionate gender diversity see increased performance and make better decisions.
In addition to being the proud sponsor of the FTSE Women Leader Review, Lloyds Banking Group has a rich history of advocacy for women in senior positions and diversity and inclusion more broadly. They:
- Were the first FTSE100 organisation to establish a gender target to improve the representation of women in senior positions in 2014.
- Have set new aspirations for a leadership team that reflects the society we serve, with 50% of women and 13% of colleagues of Black, Asian and Minority heritage (including 3% Black specifically) in senior roles by 2025
- Were among the first signatories to the Women in Finance Charter in 2016.
- Have dedicated internal programmes for Women including the ‘Women in Leadership’ Programme for middle management women which has seen 45% of participants receiving a promotion within 2 years & the ‘Returners Programme’ which specifically targets women (and men) who have been on a career break of at least 2 years.
- Have been a proud sponsor of the Women of the Future Ambassadors Programme for the last seven years, providing mentors and role models and strengthening the pipeline of talent among young women.
- Created a formal Race Action Plan in July 2020 to help address specific challenges that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues & customers face.
Lloyds Banking Group has been recognised for its dedication and leadership when it comes to promoting the inclusion and diversity agenda and have been recognised as a Times Top Employer for Women for the last ten consecutive years, featured in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the last three years, recognised by Working Families as a Top 10 Employer for working families for the last six years and in 2020, two of their senior leaders featured in the Cranfield 100 Women to Watch list.
Government Partners
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
The Review has the support of BEIS Ministers and we are fortunate to benefit from the administrative/secretarial support of a small dedicated team within BEIS.
BEIS is the department for economic growth. The department invests in skills and education to promote trade, boost innovation and help people to start and grow a business. BEIS also protects consumers and reduces the impact of regulation.
In 2010 the Government asked Lord Davies of Abersoch to review the representation of women at board level, to identify barriers to women reaching the top and make recommendations to increase the number of women serving on the boards of Britains’ largest companies.
Sir Philip Hampton and Dame Helen Alexander were asked by BEIS to continue the drive for more women on FTSE 350 Boards with a new important focus on leadership ranks under their own review at the beginning of 2016.
The Government Equalities Office (GEO)
GEO is responsible for equality strategy and legislation across government. They work to take action on the government’s commitment to remove barriers to equality and help to build a fairer society, leading on issues relating to women, sexual orientation and transgender equality.
The Review is fortunate to benefit from the analyst support of a small dedicated team with GEO.
Financial Reporting Council (FRC)
FRC is the UK’s independent regulator responsible for promoting high quality corporate governance and reporting to foster investment. They promote high standards of corporate governance through the UK Corporate Governance Code. They set standards for corporate reporting, audit and actuarial practice and monitor and enforce accounting and auditing standards.
The FRC amended the UK Corporate Governance Code in 2012 to require listed companies to establish a boardroom diversity policy and disclose gender split in the workplace from board level down. The Narrative Reporting Regulations in 2013 have led to many companies providing information on gender breakdown across the whole workforce.
Research Partners
The Investment Association
The UK investment management industry plays a major role in the economy, helping millions of individuals and families achieve their life goals by helping grow their investments (mainly through workplace pensions).
The Investment Association is the trade body and industry voice for UK investment managers. Members range from small, independent UK investment firms to Europe-wide and global players. Collectively, they manage over £7.7 trillion of assets on behalf of their clients in the UK and around the world. The Investment Association act as their voice and represent their interests to policymakers and regulators, and help explain to the wider world what the industry does.
King’s College London
The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership brings together rigorous research, practice and advocacy to better understand and address the causes of women’s underrepresentation in leadership positions across sectors and countries and the way gender negatively impacts the evaluation of women leaders
The Institute undertakes a range of activities designed to strengthen:
- Research – drawing together existing findings and undertaking new studies.
- Engagement – bringing together experts and stakeholders from across the world.
- Practice – using research to deliver evidence-based training and teaching.
30% Club
The 30% Club aims to develop a diverse pool of talent for all businesses through the efforts of its Chair and CEO members who are committed to better gender balance at all levels of their organisations. Business leadership is key to their mission, taking the issue beyond a specialist diversity effort and into mainstream talent managementThe 30% Club believes that gender balance on boards not only encourages better leadership and governance, but diversity further contributes to better all-round board performance, and ultimately increased corporate performance for both companies and their shareholders.
Cranfield
Since 1999, Cranfield have been publishing an annual Female FTSE benchmarking report that has provided a regular measure of the number of women executive directors on the corporate boards of the UK’s top 100 companies.They are committed to helping organisations to develop the next generation of leaders from the widest possible pool of talent. They are unique in focusing their research, management development and writing on gender diversity at leadership level.
It is widely recognised that there is a gender imbalance at senior management/leadership level. The Centre aims first to understand the issues facing senior women managers, and second the impact of organisational and personal factors on women’s managerial careers. Cranfield provide much of the research and data analytics that go into the FTSE Women Leaders annual reports.
