Cable Turns Up The Heat On All-Male Boards

Britain's biggest pubs operator and one of the country's largest sportswear retailers are to be targeted by Vince Cable in a renewed focus on bolstering boardroom diversity.

Sky News understands that the Business Secretary plans to write to the chairmen of approximately 30 FTSE-350 companies which have all-male boards more than three years after an initiative was launched to increase the number of women directors.

Among those which continue to have only men on their boards are Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI.L - news) , JD Sports Fashion (LSE: JD.L - news) , 3i Infrastructure and HellermannTyton, an industrial group.

Since Glencore, the mining and commodities giant, became the last FTSE-100 company to appoint a female director earlier this year, the number of all-male boards among the next 250 largest businesses has fallen from almost 50 to 30.

Mr Cable is expected to express frustration that the remaining laggards have not done more to bolster diversity.

His latest intervention will coincide with the publication of a half-yearly progress report on female representation in boardrooms.

New figures due to be published on Thursday are likely to show that only a couple of dozen further appointments need to be made by FTSE-100 companies during the next 14 months in order to meet the original target of 25% female directors by the end of 2015.

The diversity initiative was spearheaded in 2011 by Lord Davies, the former Standard Chartered (HKSE: 2888.HK - news) chairman and trade minister who is among the UK's most respected businessmen.

Mr Cable and Lord Davies have both backed a voluntary approach to the issue, arguing that quotas would do little to address challenges such as the number of women in senior executive posts at major companies.

The Business Secretary is now turning his attention to other areas of diversity in business, arguing recently that ethnic minority representation in boardrooms remains weak.