As we celebrate International Women’s Day this weekend, news that gender diversity across AIM company boards has stalled will be of note. New data has shown that the proportion of women holding directorships is unchanged at 1 in 6 over the past year while the number of all male boards hit 38%, providing a stark contrast with the FTSE350.
The third annual report on Gender Diversity in AIM Company Boards by Addidat and Indigo: Independent Governance also shows that just 11% of AIM companies would meet the 40% female board representation target expected of FTSE350 firms.
Nina Spencer, CEO of Addidat, remarked: “Addidat’s latest data reveals a mixed picture of gender diversity across AIM boards. While the average percentage of women on boards has risen slightly from 15.6% to 16.4%, progress has significantly slowed. The percentage of firms with no women on their boards has increased although more firms do now have two or more women on their boards. These insights underline that while some firms are leading the way and continue to improve their gender diversity year-on-year, the majority remain static, creating an overall slow pace of change across the AIM market.”
Many AIM companies also risk perceptions of tokenism and box-ticking by appointing only one female director and having no women in senior roles. A staggering 72% of AIM companies still have no women in key leadership positions (Chair, SID, CEO, or CFO) and only 5% have more than one woman in a senior board role.
The number of AIM companies with more than one female director has grown to 29%, up from 26% in 2024 and 21% in 2023, suggesting slow but positive change, but even as some sectors show improvement, the overall picture remains poor.
Bernadette Young, Founder of Indigo: Independent Governance, warned:
“AIM companies need to consider adopting clearer diversity ambitions and more inclusive board recruitment policies so that their leadership reflects contemporary expectations and their board structures are optimised to create richer debates informed by different perspectives and experiences. It is disappointing that many AIM companies appear to still have their heads buried in the sand when it comes to modernising their board compositions.”
Real estate remains the worst performing sector — 75% of companies have no women on their boards. While this is an improvement from 81% in the previous year, only 8% of real estate firms have at least one woman in a senior role.
AIM utilities firms outperform other sectors, with 26% female board representation, still well below the 40% FTSE350 target, whilst 50% of such firms have at least one woman in a senior role, 25% of them have no female directors at all.
Companies with a market cap below £500m saw almost no progress, and in the £10m–£50m range, gender diversity actually declined. In contrast, larger AIM firms (£500m–£1bn) saw modest gains, with board gender diversity increasing by 5-7%.
Unlike FTSE-listed firms, AIM companies are not subject to formal diversity targets or reporting requirements that have driven considerable improvements in board diversity in recent years.
Many AIM companies currently comply with QCA Corporate Governance Code. Its flexible approach is helpful in giving freedom to boards to adopt practices that are appropriate to the size, structure and complexity of their organisation, but the Code’s flexibility also means no clear expectations for action or disclosures on diversity are mandated.
