Housebuilder says it will announce appointment of new female non-exec within two weeks

Barratt has committed to announced the hiring of a new woman non-exec to its board within the next two weeks after a shareholder protest at its AGM on the issue of female board representation.

The UK鈥檚 biggest housebuilder said it was close to the end of the recruitment process for its next board member, to replace Nina Bibby, and would be announcing the appointment within the next couple of weeks.

The 拢5.3bn turnover firm was forced to make the statement after more than a fifth of shareholders voted against the re-election of Barratt chair John Allan at the firm鈥檚 annual general meeting in London today 鈥� a move the business said was a protest against female representation on the board falling below recommended levels upon Nina Bibby鈥檚 retirement.

Just 79.7% of those who voted at the AGM voted in favour of John Allan being re-elected as a director of the company, with 20.3% voting against and more than 10% of shareholders also voting against the re-appointment of male non executives Chris Weston and Jock Lennox.

The departure of Nina Bibby means that currently just three out of nine Barratt board members are female, less than the 40% recommended by the government-backed Hampton Alexander Review, which has been adopted by the FTSE.

In a statement accompanying the outcome of the AGM votes, Barratt said: 鈥淚t is the company鈥檚 understanding that the votes against resolution five (the re-election of John Allan) were primarily due to female board representation falling below the requirements of the Hampton-Alexander review following the AGM, as Nina Bibby did not stand for re-election.鈥�

>> See also: Every Person Counts campaign

The firm said it took compliance with the UK corporate governance code seriously and was 鈥渕indful of the requirements of the Hampton-Alexander review鈥�, as well as proposed changes to Listing Rules which will require publicly traded firms to either increase female representation to 40% on Boards while ensuring one of the key roles 鈥� chair, chief executive, chief financial officer or senior independent director 鈥� is held by a woman, or explain why these targets haven鈥檛 been met.

Barratt said the nomination committee, chaired by John Allan, was 鈥渘earing the end of the recruitment process鈥� for a new non-executive director and will be announcing the 鈥渟uccessful female candidate in the next two weeks鈥�.

All motions at the AGM were passed.

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