Five- and ten-year trends

The 2024 UK Spencer Stuart Board Index is a comprehensive review of governance practice in the largest 150 companies in the FTSE rankings by market value at 30 April 2024. The chart below provides a unique perspective on the extent to which a range of key metrics have changed over the past five and ten years.

Five and ten year trends

Board composition

	2024	2019	2014	5 year change	10 year change
Average board size	10.1	10.3	10.5	-2%	-4%
Independent directors (excl. Chair)	95%	94%	60%	1%	58%
Combined CEO/chair	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%
Senior independent director	100%	99%	100%	1%	0%

Age

	2024	2019	2014	5 year change	10 year change
Average age non-executives	60.6	60	59.3	-1%	0%
Average age executives	54	54.3	52.4	-1%	3%

Foreign directors

	2024	2019	2014	5 year change	10 year change
% foreign directors: all	37%	33%	33%	12%	12%
Boards with at least one foreign non-executive director	89%	82%	67%	9%	33%
Boards with at least one foreign executive director	49%	43%	51%	14%	-4%
Boards with at least one foreign director	91%	84%	81%	8%	12%

Women directors

	2024	2019	2014	5 year change	10 year change
% women directors: all	43%	31%	21%	39%	105%
% women directors: non-executives	53%	43%	30%	23%	77%
% women directors: executives	19%	8%	7%	138%	171%
Female chair	15%	3%	2%	400%	650%
Female CEO	12%	5%	6%	140%	100%
Companies with at least one female director	100%	100%	97%	0%	3%

Committees

	2024	2019	2014	5 year change	10 year change
% boards with more than 3 committees	97%	57%	57%	70%	70%

Tenure

	2024	2019	2014	5 year change	10 year change
Average non-executive tenure (years)	4.1	4.1	4.2	0%	-2%

Remuneration

	2024	2019	2014	5 year change	10 year change
Average non-executive retainer	£78,271	£69,238	£61,920	13%	26%
Average (part-time) chair retainer	£441,193	£404,544	£351,977	9%	25%

Outside commitments

	2024	2019	2014	5 year change	10 year change
% chairs with outside quoted board	67%	68%	73%	-1%	-8%
% CEOs with outside quotes board	31%	28%	39%	11%	-21%
% CFOs with outside quoted board	27%	29%	28%	-7%	-4%

Meetings and board evaluation

	2024	2019	2014	5 year change	10 year change
% boards external evaluation	45%	37%	40%	22%	13%
Average number of board meetings (scheduled)	7.5	7.6	7.6	-1%	-1%

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