More cracks in glass ceiling at UK firms

The number of women in boardroom roles at FTSE 100 companies in the United Kingdom has risen from 12.5 percent a decade ago to 39.1 percent, according to new figures from global data company BoardEx.

The information is included in the government-backed FTSE Women Leaders Review, and Denise Wilson, chief executive of the review team, said there had been a "revolutionary change" in the 10 years.

Boardroom representation rules in the UK are voluntary, unlike other countries in Europe where they are mandatory.

The review said the next voluntary goal should be for companies to have at least one of four key roles－board chair, senior independent director, chief executive and/or finance director－filled by a woman, and that the country's 50 biggest private businesses should be expected to meet the standard set by listed companies.

Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of women's rights organization Fawcett Society, said although progress is welcome, there is still more work to be done, with women holding just one-quarter of roles in executive committees.

"The devil is in the detail here," she said. "In the majority of boardrooms, men continue to be overrepresented. When we look at the most senior positions of CEO and chair, the progress is painfully slow."

Wilson backed the move for more women in the most important roles, saying it would be "the last and final hill to climb", but cautioned that progress to achieving it was likely to be slow, given the longevity of many people already holding such key positions.

"We know there is much more work to do and no shortage of experienced, capable women, ambitious for themselves and their company across all sectors of business today," she added.

Grace Lordan, founder of The Inclusion Initiative at the London School of Economics, told the BBC that "on the surface, 39.1 percent looks like a wonderful statistic", but that the distribution of power through the roles held told another story.

"We need to put the spotlight on positions of strategic importance like the chair, chief executive and chief financial officer roles－not just the nonexecutive jobs", she added.

One extremely high-profile appointment that is soon to go through, according to Sky News, is Anna Cross becoming group chief financial officer at Barclays, making her the first woman to take any of the three most powerful roles in the bank.

Barclays, which was scheduled to publish its annual results on Wednesday, has yet to comment on the report that she is to replace Tushar Morzaria, who is leaving the role after eight years. She is currently his deputy.