'I was often the only woman in the room. That's changed'

Kelly Becker, who runs engineering firm Schneider Electric's UK and Ireland operations, says twenty years ago she was often the only woman in the room.

"I can still be the only woman in the room, but it's less and less, and that to me is exciting."

Ms Becker's experience reflects a broader shift, with women now making up more than a third of top jobs at the UK's 350's largest firms.

The number of women on boards has risen 50% from 682 to 1,026 in five years.

The figures were released by the government-backed Hampton-Alexander Review, which was launched in 2016 to encourage UK-listed companies to appoint more senior women.

It said they showed "a dramatic shift in representation at the very highest levels of British business".

Ms Becker said there had "been a lot of work done" on getting women into executive positions at firms.

"It takes really careful thinking and planning to drive diversity into organisations, not just gender, but diversity of thought, diversity of experience, diversity of background," she told the BBC's Wake up to Money programme.

"Companies have been very clear that their business will perform better with diversity," she added.

The improvement at the UK's biggest firms was also welcomed by campaigners such as the 30% Club, which champions better boardroom representation of women around the world.

Ann Cairns, global chair of the organisation, said: "The Hampton-Alexander Review has played a significant role in bringing about greater gender diversity to the boardrooms of Britain's biggest companies."