The 30% Club is a group of business leaders committed to achieving better gender balance at all levels of organisations, because we believe this will make businesses and boards more effective. We are taking voluntary steps towards the goal of 30% women on boards by 2015 and believe strongly that business-led change is the right way forward. We do not support mandatory quotas; the experience of Norway (where still just 3% of CEOs are women) shows that a quota system does not lead to sustainable change in the executive pipeline. Meanwhile, concerted efforts by men and women working together on the issue over the past three years, following the launch of the 30% Club in 2010 and the publication of the Davies Report into Women on Boards in 2011, have led to a rapid acceleration in the pace of change in the UK. Forty-three per cent of FTSE 100 non-executive director (NED) appointments in the year to 1 March 2013 were awarded to women (and a similar percentage, 44%, of FTSE 250 appointments). This is a significant shift in the momentum of change since 2010, when just 13% of FTSE 100 NED appointments went to women. We have yet to see meaningful change in executive appointments, but this will inevitably take longer to achieve.

The 30% Club is a collaborative and constructive effort; it is not a diversity business. There is no charge for membership. Activities of the 30% Club have been financed through the generosity of a variety of firms, on an entirely voluntary basis. The members of the Club are the chairmen of listed companies and professional services firms. Most of these chairmen are men and their leadership and involvement has been a vital factor in moving the issue forward in the UK. We are ‘open source’ and are delighted to work with others in this field to create more concerted action. We are driven solely by the objective of achieving progress.

We originally focused on UK corporate boards but have now widened our focus on developing senior female talent at all levels.

We also provide strategic support to other 30% Clubs throughout the world; the issue of gender imbalance at the top of companies is a global phenomenon and within the parameters of a similar philosophy and approach, we are happy to help establish local 30% Clubs. Please contact [email protected] if you wish to explore this further.

Please also see ‘About us’ for details of the 30% Club Steering Committee and focus groups.