Bunzl has become the first of the female-free FTSE 100 companies to be prodded into appointing a woman director.
Two weeks ago a report on women in the British boardroom by Lord Davies of Abersoch, the former Standard Chartered chief, said that the boards of FTSE 100 companies should be 25 per cent female within four years. The report followed revelations in The Times that 18 blue-chip companies are without women on their boards.
Bunzl, a multinational distribution and outsourcing group best known for making plastic bags and paper plates, has appointed the American head of the Burberry fashion chain as a non-executive director. Eugenia Ulasewicz is believed to be the first female director in Bunzl’s 150-year history.
The group’s chairman Philip Rogerson said that her wholsesale and retail experience “will be of great value to Bunzl”.
Footsie companies without a woman on the board include the Primark owner Associated British Foods and the plumbing giant Wolseley.
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Another falling foul of Lord Davies’s campaign — Antofagasta — had an opportunuity to change matters last week after the resignation of one of its non-executives. The Chilean miner passed up the chance and replaced the departing male non-executive with another man.