Ernst & Young UK chairman Steve Varley has added his voice to criticisms about the lack of progress in making UK companies more diverse, saying the pace of change is 'protracted and prolonged' and needs to speed up.

Speaking at an E&Y women's network event for FTSE chairmen, Varley expressed his frustration and admitted that getting people to think, feel and act differently on diversity is difficult.

Varley said: 'Is this just one of those areas where change comes slowly, where we have to be patient? I hope not, because I don't want to be patient; we shouldn't be measuring progress and success in inches, but instead in miles.'

E&Y has the highest proportion of female UK partners (17%) of the Big Four, and in October 2012 became the first professional services firm to announce targets for both female and black and ethnic minority new partner admissions. Details of its progress towards increasing diversity are due to be reported in the autumn.

However, while Varley said he supported such 'targets with teeth', he maintained the real challenge is to change attitudes and so influence corporate behaviours.

'Unless there is real progress on equality, there is a danger we are all just colluding in a fantasy. We really all want a place where equality is not just a stated principle but a universal reality,' Varley stated.

Varley's comments come in the same month as Cranfield School of Management's most recent survey on female representation at board level reported that progress had slowed. While in the first half of the financial year 44% of board level appointments at FTSE 100 firms went to women, that dropped to 26% in the second half.