Women hold record number of seats on company boards but still 'too few' in top roles

SWomen occupy more than two in five seats on the boards of the UK's biggest listed companies but there are still "too few" in top positions with just 10 female FTSE 100 chief executives, according to a report.

- Julia Kollewe

The proportion of FTSE 350 board positions held by women rose to a record 42% this year, according to the annual FTSE Women Leaders Review.

This is up from 24.5% in 2017 when the report was launched.

The UK compared well internationally, coming in second place behind France and ahead of Norway, which both have quotas.

Burberry came top again, with 55% female representation on its board, followed by Marks & Spencer (51%), Next (51%) and National Grid (49%).

However, "the standout disappointing statistic among a sea of progress" was the number of female chief executives in the FTSE 350, the report said. In 2011, 15 were women and that has risen to 21 today.