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Chief executives of companies listed on London’s main market are younger and more diverse than they were a quarter of a century ago. According to a survey by UK headhunting firm Odgers, Ray & Berndtson, the average age of chiefs has fallen from 60 to 52.

In the twenty-fourth year of the FTSE 100, Odgers compared the backgrounds of chief executives of companies in the index, compared with those on the original list in 1984.

“Our research shows the UK’s chief executives are much younger and much less British,” said Odgers chief executive Richard Boggis-Rolfe. “This is a good indicator of how much more inclusive the UK business scene is – compared not only to 1984, but to other contemporary European business centres. London is unambiguously the one-world city in Europe.”

The survey showed that just 58 were British, compared with 80 in 1984, 14 are now from the US, ten from continental Europe and Ireland and eight from Commonwealth countries. Perhaps reflecting wider social changes, two of the current top 100 companies have women at the helm compared to none 25 years ago, also wider access to higher education has led to 95 of chiefs holding degrees, up from 70 in 1984.

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