Food firms accused of keeping the best jobs for the boys

The boardrooms of UK food manufacturers are still the preserve of men, according to the latest report into female FTSE directors from Cranfield School of Management.

While growing numbers of women are working in personnel, finance, quality and product development, they are not breaking into the boardroom, said the report's author Dr Val Singh.

There are just two female executive directors in food processing in the FTSE 350 companies: Northern Foods' chief executive Pat O'Driscoll and Geest Continental Europe's md Jane Scriven.

"Diageo, Unilever, Cadbury, Arla, Premier Foods, GlaxoSmith-Kline, Reckitt Benckiser, SAB Miller and Tate & Lyle now have female non-executive directors, which is encouraging," said Singh. "However, non-execs do not have the strategic or operational influence of full-time directors."

Associated British Foods, Richmond Foods, Robert Wiseman Dairies, Inter Link Foods, Glisten, Allied Domecq, Cranswick, Devro, Scottish & Newcastle and Dairy Crest do not have a single woman on the main board.

"These companies are producing products that are primarily bought by women and yet they are almost exclusively run by men," said Singh. She said that the dearth of women in top jobs could not be explained by the industry's engineering and operational bias.

"People in operational roles or engineering graduates are often not the ones that progress to the top anyway."

The pervading men's club culture remained a key barrier to women's progress in food manufacturing, claimed Hilarie Owen, founder of Renew, which specialises in putting companies in touch with senior female executives. "People are recruiting people like themselves. Board make-up needs to be more diverse."