Almost a fifth of medium -sized British companies has not improved the ethnic diversity of their boards, according to the government -supported Parker Review.
Although many listed companies have taken steps to achieve voluntary goals, the new report shows that 46 FTSE 250 companies contain a Deadline of December to state at least one non-white director has missed the goal or did not respond to the survey.
David Tyler, former J Sainsbury chairman and chairman of the Parker Review Committee, noted that certain companies with mainly investment confidence structures, and therefore fewer administrative roles, were among the worst artists. He said that the overall progress “moved a lot in the right direction”, although five FTSE 100 companies still have no ethnic minority representation in their boardrooms, compared to four in the previous assessment. These include Hargreaves Lansdown and Persimmon; However, Persimmon recently appointed Anand Aithal as non-executive director to replace Shirine Khoury-Haq.
The Parker Review was originally launched under Sir John Parker in 2015 to set diversity goals in best British companies and issues such as Groupshink. Since its foundation, more than half of the FTSE 100 boards have improved a completely white composition with at least one non-white director.
Private companies have done it worse than their listed counterparts, with 26 companies with a high income that do not improve diversity or do not respond at all. About the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250, ethnic minorities are 11 percent and 9 percent of the British senior management with 17 percent figure respectively for the broader population of England and Wales.
Last year the scope of the assessment broadened, as a result of which FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies set their own 2027 goals for various senior leadership teams. So far, FTSE 100 companies have aimed at an average representation of 15 percent, while FTSE 250 companies have set a goal of 13 percent. Tyler said that these figures can rise over time as companies become more comfortable to aim closer to the general demographic makeup of the UK.