One of Britain’s biggest banks will insist on applicants handing in anonymous CVs as part of plans to award half its senior jobs to women.

HSBC Bank yesterday announced a new ‘50/50 gender target’ in an ambitious attempt to create more diversity across the business and stamp out sexism in the workplace.

The target applies to the lender’s High Street operation which deals with customers and businesses, as well as its wealth management arm.

Currently women make up 54 per cent of the HSBC Bank workforce, but just under three in ten top jobs.

Equality quest: Currently women make up 54 per cent of the HSBC Bank workforce, but just under three in ten of its top jobs

HSBC said it had a ‘unique opportunity to address this imbalance’ as it is moving more than 1,000 head office jobs from London to Birmingham by 2019.

The move was broadly welcomed by campaigners.

But one veteran City commentator last night described the introduction of gender quotas as ‘nonsense’ and said recruitment should be based entirely on merit.

HSBC Bank said it would introduce a range of measures to promote women across its 37,000-strong workforce – which includes 5,500 senior jobs.

These include implementing the Government’s new ‘name blind’ CV screening initiative for both junior and senior rules.

It is hoped that blanking out the names of candidates will eradicate potential ‘unconscious bias’ in the initial selection process and ‘ensure that candidates proceed to interview on merit’.

The bank will require recruitment firms to send it ‘50/50 candidate shortlists’ for all senior manager roles.

Other initiatives include a ‘Professional Returners’ programme to support women who have taken time off work to care for children apply for senior jobs.

Equality: Carolyn McCall at EasyJet is one of only five female FTSE 100 chief executives

HSBC Bank aims to hit its target in its new Birmingham head office by 2020, but has not set a deadline for other parts of its High Street operation.

The target will not apply to other parts of the group, including the investment bank.

Antonio Simoes, chief executive of HSBC Bank, who is openly gay and has campaigned for more diversity in the workplace, said:

‘It’s completely unacceptable that in 2015, women are significantly under represented at a senior management level across the financial services industry. We are committed to putting that right at HSBC UK.’

The initiative comes on the back of a government push to address the shortage of women in company boardrooms.

Some progress has been made in recent years. Women now make up more than 25pc of FTSE 100 board members – hitting the target set by Lord Mervyn Davies in his 2011 review.

But there are just five female chief executives of FTSE 100 companies.

They are Carolyn McCall at EasyJet, Alison Cooper at Imperial Tobacco, Moya Green at Royal Mail, Liv Garfield at water firm Severn Trent, and Veronique Laura at B&Q-owner Kingfisher.

None of the big UK banks have female chief executives – although the chairman of Santander is now former Labour government minister Shriti Vadera.

Just 21pc of senior manager roles across the banking industry are taken by women.

Campaigners welcomed the latest push by HSBC.

Lady Barbara Judge, who chairs influential business lobby group the Institute of Directors, said: ‘It is wonderful to see a well-known business setting themselves an ambitious target for women in senior management.

'We would encourage other firms to see how they could learn from this example. Women make up half of the world’s brains and talent, it’s a resource we can’t afford to waste.’

Jamie Brookes, from the 30pc Club – which was set up with the aim of women making up 30pc of FTSE 100 boards – said:

‘This is clearly a step in the right direction, but it’s vital to keep the issue at the top of the agenda if momentum is to be sustained’

But the initiative was dismissed as ‘nonsense’ by David Buik, a veteran commentator from broker Panmure Gordon. He said: