Women now make up 23.5% of non-executive director positions on the boards of Britain’s top FTSE 100 listed companies. Just 17 more female appointments to these boards are needed to reach the 25% female target by end-2015 set by Lord Davies of Abersoch four years ago in his review for the UK government on the under-representation of women on boards.

“The rate of change that we have seen in FTSE 100 companies over the last four years has been remarkable. The voluntary approach is working, boards are getting fixed” Lord Davies will say at the launch of his report in London today.

“FTSE 100 boards have made enormous progress in the last four years, almost doubling female representation to just shy of 25 per cent.  We must celebrate this outstanding achievement and the change in culture that is taking hold at the heart of British business. The evidence is irrefutable: boards with a healthy female representation outperform their male-dominated rivals” Vince Cable, the UK Business Secretary who commissioned the Davies Review, will say today.

The authors of the Female FTSE Board Report 2015 – who include Professor Susan Vinnicombe CBE, Dr Ruth Sealy and Dr Elena Doldor of Cranfield University’s School of Management -  say that if the appointment rate of one woman to every two men appointed is sustained over the coming months, the 25% target should indeed be met before the end of this year.

From the point of less ‘groupthink’ however, and in view of better corporate governance for business – which is what the gender diversity targets are meant to be all about – it is striking how different the language of the message being delivered is, if its delivery is broken down by gender. Boardrooms take note ?

“We mustn’t be premature in congratulating ourselves. Yes, we should hit the target and – as Lord Davies has said, it is remarkable progress….but there are a lot of ‘howevers’ to consider” says Susan Vinnicombe.

The FTSE 100 has done very well with these targets. Cranfield’s report reveals that 41 companies are already at 25% female representation on boards with many far exceeding it.

Leading the way in joint top place of this year’s ranking, with 45% female representation, are Diageo and Intercontinental Hotels Group – both consumer-focused businesses. Admiral Group plc, the insurer has 41.7% and Capita plc and Kingfisher both have 40%, which includes two women in executive directorships on their boards.