Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced that Charlotte Sweeney, previously International Head of Diversity and Inclusion for Nomura International PLC, is to review the Voluntary Code of Conduct that the executive search industry uses during the board appointment search process. The Voluntary Code, established in July 2011, was a recommendation of Lord Davies’ following his review into Women on Boards in the same year. Written by the executive search community, it sets out nine key principles of best practice to follow throughout the search process. The review will look to test the strength of the Code and develop areas of accountability, as well as identifying the practical changes that have been made to the recruitment process as a result of the Code. The review will also look at whether women are still accounting for 30% of the initial long-lists of candidates submitted to company Chairs by executive search firms.
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