UK: Non-executive directors on the increase

At the end of December, the Financial Times reported (in an article titled "Big companies cut executives from boards"):

"Britain’s largest listed companies have sharply reduced the number of senior managers on their boards in the past five years, with non-executive directors now outnumbering executive directors in the FTSE 100 by more than two to one. Figures compiled by Cranfield management school show the number of executive directors of the 100 largest listed companies has fallen 27 per cent since the Higgs report called for a better balance between executives and non-executives. The fall has left more than a fifth of the FTSE 100 boards with only two executive directors – among them British Airways, Diageo and J.Sainsbury. There were just 12 when the Higgs report was published in January 2003. The changes mean that leading UK companies increasingly resemble their US counterparts, where an all-powerful chairman/chief executive and chief financial officer are the main source of information for the independent directors".

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