Women Occupy 18% of UK Tech Scale-Up Board Seats, Report

• A report by Think & Grow, women make up just 18% of board members at the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies 
• Furthermore, 36% of these companies do not have a woman on the board 

According to a report by global growth consultancy Think & Grow, women occupy just 18 percent of board positions across the UK's leading tech scale-ups, while 36 percent have no female board members. 

This is despite 94 percent of board members and key decision-makers stating that they believe diverse boards are essential for success. 

The findings also underlined a gap between the tech industry's commitment to inclusion and its real-life implementation.  

Diversity does not seem yet to be among the top concerns of too many fast-growing tech firms, according to the study "Breaking and Remaking the Next Generation of High-Impact Boards" by Think & Grow. 

The report also links diversity to improved business performance: about 35 percent of senior decision-makers said diverse board’s help improve customer representation, while others noted benefits in problem-solving and identifying blind spots. 

Larger firms, defined as those with revenues over £50 million, reported 22 percent female board representation, compared with 15 percent among smaller firms, suggesting that gender balance may be linked with organizational maturity.  

The same trend applies to listed firms, with revenues above £500 million showing 42 percent female board members compared with 37 percent for their smaller counterparts. 

Yet despite these current disparities, there is cause for optimism. The average board representation of females in startups founded within the last five years stands at 25 percent, more than double that of older companies.  

Nearly 93 percent of the board members who responded said gender diversity has improved over the past few years, indicating positive cultural change within the sector. 

Jonathan Jeffries, CEO and Co-Founder of Think & Grow, said diversity has both social and strategic advantages: 

“There is a clear link between diverse boards and strong corporate performance—yet many UK tech companies still lack diversity in their leadership. Prioritizing inclusion from the start allows founders to build boards that solve problems faster, anticipate challenges, and understand a wide range of markets and people.” 

Since its founding more than 16 years ago, Think & Grow has helped global tech leaders such as Stripe, Square, Dropbox, Peloton, and Etsy successfully navigate the challenges of scaling and governance in highly competitive international markets.