Women on Boards
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Our Impact

"Only when I joined Women on Boards and started to engage with the content did I allow myself to believe that I actually did have something to offer in terms of transferable skills, experience and networks."

365+
board successes
2000+
board roles shared
3000+
event attendees

Building on our tenth anniversary in 2022, this year, we have continued to develop and strengthen the support we offer our members.

To enhance the level of service we provide to our community, we launched a new and improved website, expanded our team, and integrated new services into our core activity. Through these efforts, we are committed to continuously improving our services and ensuring our members receive the best possible support.

Our ‘secret sauce’ is the individual support we offer at key points in your journey – we offered over 400 1-on-1 connections this year to help our members.

We celebrated one year of our Directors’ Circle, supporting our most experienced members and launched our new Digital membership, providing access to our abundant Resource Centre and varied events programme.

Our social media reached 1.1 million, spreading the word about non-executive opportunities and inspiring people to pursue their board careers.

Connecting boards with diverse candidates

"The Bespoke NED Search team provided an excellent service, finding us a high-calibre shortlist from the Women on Boards membership."

We embedded our Bespoke NED Search service alongside our established Vacancy Board and worked with 30 FTSE, large private, scale-ups, public sector and not-for-profit organisations to help them find potential board applicants.

Standout search campaigns have seen our members appointed to the boards of Travelodge, Ixico plc, First Central, Eagle Eye Solutions and COIF Charities Investment Fund.

With over 2,000 vacancies posted across 24 sectors – 30% of them paid – our Vacancy Board remains the best place to get a full overview of the board roles available in the UK. And members love it – we recorded an average of 10k views a month across all the opportunities.

We championed the need for more diversity of thought in the boardroom and challenged boards to think more broadly about ‘board-ready’ talent. Our 2023 report, Hidden Talent, revealed the lack of executive expertise on listed company boards across over 1,000 firms in the FTSE All-Share and AIM listings. The report received 100k views, highlighting the importance of our advocacy.

We used the Bespoke NED Search service for the first time when recently looking to appoint a new Chair for our Remuneration Committee. We were very impressed by the quality, quantity and diversity of candidates that put themselves forward and would have no hesitation in using this service again.

Stuart Paterson

Chair, Macfarlane Group

For me, the Bespoke NED Search service is now an essential part of my research options. The quality and reach of their network proved to be really impressive.

Mike Clancy

Walgrove

I used WB Directors to recruit an additional NED to the Board of Travelodge. I found the process excellent: I was able to brief the team with ease and they provided a list of a dozen or so candidates. The CEO and I selected our four favourites, who were each excellent and matched our desired brief very closely. The process was not only efficient and not too demanding of my time but also represented excellent value for money. I fully intend to use WB Directors again!

Bespoke Client

Supporting diverse in-house talent

"I have been supported by the WB Directors team who visited my company – their guidance and encouragement to apply for my first board role has been much appreciated."

We worked with 50 Corporate Partners during 2023, supporting their diverse talent to take control of their careers and strive for their potential. We have welcomed over 2000 of their employees to our growing community to gain further support and insight, enabling them to integrate community board roles alongside their day jobs.

We also delivered over 100 workshops in-house for our Corporate Partners, covering a range of topics from career management, understanding the board events, impactful networking and more. We engaged over 5000 ambitious professionals of all genders through these events, with content tailored to the priorities identified in our Partners’ People and ED&I strategies.

Our work on shadow boards – advisory boards that run parallel to the full board and are typically made up of younger people – received coverage across FinTech Times, Diversity Q, New Energy World and the My Duvet Flip podcast. This helped us reach millions of young people across the UK and move closer to our goal of diversifying the boardroom.

Find out about the benefits of becoming a Corporate Partner.

Why you should join us

"Having decided to widen my NED search to the UK, I have found my Women on Boards membership incredibly valuable. Thank you the team, always welcoming and available to assist and encourage."

Whether you’re just starting out or have years of board experience, our community is for you. Our members are ambitious, passionate and inspiring to the next generation of leaders.

Joining our thriving community gives you access to a ready-made network of like-minded people. So, create those connections, get that support, and learn from each other. This is what makes being a member so special.

Join our network today