By Mags Fuller, Co-Owner and Finance Director, The Alternative Board UK
The 2025 FTSE Women Leaders Review reports that women now hold 43% of board positions across the UK’s top 350 companies. It’s a huge step forward. But when you look closer at financial leadership, the picture is less encouraging. Just 22% of Finance Director roles are held by women — a figure that’s barely shifted in recent years.
There are some standout examples of progress. Companies like Diageo PLC, Auto Trader Group and Severn Trent have over 65% female representation on their boards. But across the boardroom table, financial leadership is proving slower to change than other senior roles.
And this isn’t just a “big company” issue. The same pattern appears, to varying degrees, in the SME sector, and that’s a problem for a part of the economy that employs millions of people. According to the latest figures, just 15% of UK SMEs with employees are led by women or by a majority-female management team. At TAB, that figure is noticeably higher. Around 25% of our members are women running their own businesses, well above the national average. It’s progress worth celebrating, but it also shows there’s still plenty of work to do to ensure more women have the opportunity, support and confidence to lead.
In SMEs, finance isn’t just about reporting numbers. It’s about shaping the future. A strong Finance Director helps set direction, assess risk, and identify growth opportunities. When women are missing from those roles, it’s not just a gap in representation. It can be a gap in perspective and insight.
Why does the gap persist?
There’s no single reason. Confidence, visibility and access to opportunity all play their part. In smaller businesses, finance can be just one of many responsibilities on a leader’s plate, which means it doesn’t always get seen as a natural stepping stone to the top. Without visible role models or strong support networks, it can be hard for talented women to see a clear path forward.
Some of these barriers are invisible, but they’re no less real. Creating an environment where people feel equipped and encouraged to step into senior roles can make a huge difference.
What we see at TAB
At The Alternative Board, we work with business leaders from all backgrounds, helping them shape and grow their businesses through peer advisory boards and executive coaching. Over the past 15 years, we’ve seen time and again how diverse leadership teams bring broader perspectives and stronger, more resilient decision-making.
Our role is to create space for those voices to be heard. Whether it’s through behavioural profiling workshops, strategic planning sessions or using our Business Builder’s Blueprint, we help leaders at every stage build the confidence and clarity to step into bigger roles.
Encouraging change in SMEs
The FTSE Women Leaders Review has called on every FTSE 350 company to have at least one woman in one of the top four board positions — Chair, Senior Independent Director, CEO or Finance Director by the end of 2025. While that goal is aimed at large corporations, the principle absolutely applies to smaller businesses too.
For SMEs, the culture comes from the top. That means thinking about how opportunities are shared, how people are supported to grow, and how leadership potential is recognised. It means making time for mentoring, dialogue and shared learning so that more women feel able to step forward.
Looking ahead
Finance shapes the big decisions in a business. When more voices are represented in that space, those decisions are stronger. The progress we’ve made in getting women into leadership roles is real, but there’s still work to do, especially in finance.
The good news is, the foundations are there. There’s a growing recognition of the value that inclusive leadership brings, and with the right encouragement and support, more women will step into financial leadership in the years ahead.
If you’d like to find out more about how TAB supports business leaders, feel free to get in touch.
