Calling all transport execs

An online recruitment platform has revealed a huge shortfall in non-executive directors from the transport sector.

NonExecutiveDirectors.com has 6,000 names on its database but has revealed that just one per cent of those are from the transport industry, despite there being no shortage of skills in the sector.

CEO of NonExecutiveDirectors.com, Matthew Roberts, said, ‘We want more people from this sector to sign up. Perhaps they think they don’t have the skills required for a non-executive director, but being on a board is very much about the behaviours and attributes they display like confidence, self-control and the ability to challenge or support.’

According to the NonExecutiveDirectors.com database, a typical NED is a 57-year-old male based in the South East of England, with 14 years’ experience as an executive.

Roberts said, ‘We want to explode the myth that boards should look this way – they should have a diverse range of people on them from a variety of sectors, age groups, life experiences etc.’

Meanwhile, just 18% of its members are women. Roberts added, ‘The gist of the feedback we’ve been given is that females still have a perception of ‘cronyism’ and boardroom politics at this level, and that many intermediaries helping find non-exec positions are also male, which they can find off-putting.

‘An online platform, helping to cut out the middle man, can help eradicate this and provide a space in which females feel comfortable to apply.  It will go some way to helping to level out these discrepancies.’