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The company, which is one of just four businesses in the FTSE 350 to have both a female CEO and Chair, has been named in second place in the review. In fact the company was one of just two in the FTSE 100 with more women than men on its Board. In total, 55.6% of Severn Trent’s Board was made up of women, as well as more than a third (38.4%) of its senior leaders.
Liv Garfield, Severn Trent CEO, said: “I’m incredibly proud of all we’ve achieved at Severn Trent over the years when it comes to increasing diversity across both the Board and our senior leaders.
“We’re in a traditionally male-dominated industry but, for me, it’s always been about appointing the best people to the right roles and, by doing that, we’ve managed to both build a top performing team and to improve our gender diversity.”
The report shows more than a third (34.3%) of FTSE 350 board positions are now held by women, with the number of women on boards increasing by 50% over the last five years.
“My aim is to encourage other women to see just what’s possible and to have no fear in following in my footsteps as they aspire to be the very best they can be in whatever industry they choose to enter,” said Liv.
“It really shouldn’t be unusual for a FTSE company to have a female CEO or a female Chair, so it’s clear there’s plenty more work to be done but Hampton-Alexander’s done a fantastic job in shining a light on gender diversity over the years.”
The Hampton-Alexander Review set a target of 33% representation of women on FTSE 350 Boards and in Executive Committee and Direct Reports by the end of 2020. The Review captures over 23,000 leadership roles in 350 of Britain’s largest companies making the UK’s voluntary approach to improving women’s representation at the top table, arguably the biggest and most ambitious of any country.
You can find out more about this year’s report here.