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In an effort to increase the number of women in senior corporate jobs, a group of London-based executive search firms has launched a new voluntary code of recruitment conduct that it wants companies to follow.

The move is a response to the government-commissioned Davies Review of Women on Boards, published in February. The review concluded companies needed to do more to increase gender diversity in their boardrooms.

The code – produced by 20 leading search firms – sets out seven key principles for recruitment agencies to follow. It ranges from what action to take when accepting a brief through to the induction of new hires.

The Code also covers succession planning, target setting, the balance of skills versus experience and the need for diverse candidate long lists.

Business Minister Edward Davey welcomed the code but said companies had to do more to improve gender diversity in the boardroom.

By September all UK listed companies are supposed to publish targets for the number of women they plan recruit to their boardrooms.  "All chairs need to be thinking about this now - not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it makes good business sense," said Davey.

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