Lord Davies of Abersoch has released his report to the government on “diversity in the boardroom”. In it, UK firms were told to almost double the number of women on their boards by 2013, or face government measures.

As well as calling for greater female representation at the top of the corporate ladder, the report also asked headhunters and shareholders to sign up to a code of conduct to increase the number of women on boards.

Liz Field, CEO of the Financial Skills Partnership, said, “In the Financial Services sector companies have a particularly poor reputation when it comes to the number of females executives at top positions and in boardrooms.

“Despite working in a male-dominated industry, greater board diversity increases a firm’s competitive advantage relative to those with less diversity. Women should have a major influence on a company’s purchase decisions and should contribute to profit-making parts of the business. By matching the diversity of a firm’s directors to the diversity of potential customers and employees a company can increase its ability to penetrate markets.”

Lord Davies also called on chairmen to announce in the next six months their goals “to ensure that more talented and gifted women” get top jobs.

“Currently 18 FTSE 100 companies have no female directors at all and nearly half of all FTSE 250 companies do not have a woman in the boardroom,” he said. “Radical change is needed in the mindset of the business community if we are to implement the scale of change that is needed.”

A recently published report from the Institute of Leadership and Management stated that nearly three-quarters of women say they still face barriers to top-level promotion in the UK.

While women make up almost half of the UK workforce, they occupy just 12 percent of FTSE 100 directorships, according to Cranfield School of Management.