A new report from global growth consultancy Think & Grow has revealed that women hold just 18% of board positions across the UK’s fastest-growing technology scale-ups, despite 94% of board members acknowledging the importance of diversity.

Over a third of companies (36%) surveyed have no female representation at board level, exposing a major gap between intent and implementation.

The report, Breaking and Remaking the Next Generation of High-impact Boards, shows that early-stage companies significantly trail listed tech firms, where women make up 41% of FTSE 350 tech company boards due to stricter diversity rules.

The findings suggest that scale-ups are missing out on both performance and innovation gains linked to diverse leadership teams.