Six of the best: Women bosses in the FTSE 100

GSK has just announced Emma Walmsley will be its next chief executive taking the total of women running FTSE 100 companies to seven.

So who are the other six?

Carolyn McCall - Easyjet

Carolyn McCall joined the budget airline from Guardian Media Group in 2010. She was made a Dame in the New Year Honours list this year for her work in the aviation industry. Under her, the company entered the FTSE 100 for the first time.

Profits at the airline rose for five years in a row and last September it made a record £681m. This year, however, has been more turbulent, with the company posting a half-year loss of £24m, hurt by the fall in the pound.

Veronique Laury - Kingfisher

Veronique Laury was considered a surprise choice to head the home improvement chain when she took over from Ian Cheshire in December 2014. She had been at the business 11 years and led the French DIY chain Castorama.

According to an interview in the Financial Times, she has renovated at least two houses and is a keen gardener and painter.

Liv Garfield - Severn Trent

Liv Garfield was just 38 when she became chief executive of the water firm Severn Trent in 2014. Before that she was head of BT Openreach, where, according to her online biography, she spearheaded and oversaw the commercial roll-out of fibre broadband to two thirds of the country.

Alison Cooper - Imperial Brands

Alison Cooper has been head of the Bristol-based cigarette firm Imperial Brands for more than six years, having first joined in 1999.

Last year she oversaw a $7.1bn expansion into the US with the purchase of brands including Winston, Maverick, Kool, Salem and e-cigarette brand blu. According to an interview in the Evening Standard, she is a cigar smoker and also a keen singer.

Moya Greene - Royal Mail

Moya Greene was named as chief executive of Royal Mail in 2010 - coming from the top job at Canada Post. She oversaw the company's £3.3bn privatisation in 2013 and has been described as "relentless, a force of nature, a tough lady".

She'll need that to help get Royal Mail back on track - earlier this year it reported a 33% fall in annual profits as it faces increasing competition.

Alison Brittain - Whitbread

Alison joined Whitbread - owner of Premier Inns and Costa Coffee - in January this year, having forged her career in banking - most recently at from Lloyds Banking Group, where she was head of their retail division.

She told the Daily Mail earlier this year that she stays in Premier Inns when she travels and that "we are definitely short of female CEOs. Clearly there is work to do there".