The Business Secretary Vince Cable is to ask recruitment agencies to reveal how many women they place in senior positions, as part of moves to encourage companies to boost the participation of women in the boardroom.

Moves to encourage more women to become directors appear to be gathering pace, with industry initiatives helping the proportion of women appointed directors in FTSE100 companies to double over the past year, according to the latest figures from Lord Davies's inquiry into male dominance in the boardroom.