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Contents

Foreword 03
Introductions and main findings 04
Mind the gap 05
Mixed picture across sectors, regions and gender 06
Is there a specific black British issue? 08
Positive signs of change 09
Regional landscape 10
Trouble at the top 11
Credit crunched? 12
Conclusion 12
Recommendations 13
Contact us 14

02 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top

Foreword
British society is becoming more multi-
ethnic and culturally diverse by the day.
This is increasingly reflected in every
aspect of popular culture from sport
to fashion. But is it reflected where it
counts most - in the boardrooms and
middle management of companies
and organisations, where black, Asian
and minority ethnic workers can be
strong role models for the upcoming
generation aspiring to positions of real influence on
British society? Business in the Community’s Race for
Opportunity (RfO) campaign is committed to speeding up
the progress of ethnic minority people in the workplace.
To establish the scale of the challenge, we commissioned
ground breaking research to find out exactly how much
progress black, Asian and minority ethnic groups (BAME)
have made in reaching the higher echelons of business
and public sectors.

The findings in this research demonstrate that it is

time for every organisation to look at their Boards and
management teams and take action. In January this
year, Barack Obama will be officially handed the most
complex and high profile management job in the world
- the Presidency of the United States - and will be the
first African-American or indeed member of any ethnic
minority to hold that post. Sadly Britain not only seems
far from having its first BAME Prime Minister but is also
failing to rid its workplace of the barriers that stop ethnic
minority employees achieving management positions
in sufficient numbers. Barack Obama won the most
high profile management post in the world with the
slogan “Yes, we can”. Without major and urgent policy
intervention or action from businesses, the message
to ethnic minorities aspiring to management in the
UK is: “No, you won’t.”

If we ever want to reflect the multicultural society in

which we live - it will mean having an ethnic minority
man or woman as Prime Minister and Chief Executive
of a FTSE 100 firm. To achieve this, action is required.
The findings of this report clearly demonstrate the pace
of change is too slow and it is up to those in power,
particularly those in business, to ensure they extend
opportunities for everyone.

Sandra Kerr
National Director of the Race for Opportunity
campaign, Business in the Community

03 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top

Introduction
and main findings
This report is based on new research carried out by It highlights four key areas of concern:
Race for Opportunity who used data from the Office of

1will never
National Statistics (ONS) in order to analyse the changes
in ethnic minority populations, both in terms of total On current trends, ethnic minorities in management
numbers and in the number achieving management be in line with their representation in the
positions and particularly senior-level jobs. It then broke overall population
the data down by region, gender, ethnic group and

occupation to give an overall picture of the successes
- and obstacles - on the path to management. By
going back to 2000 the report also reveals how much
progress has been made over time and whether the rate
of change has increased or slowed down. The results
reveal both successes and failures in equal measure and
2
The number of black, Asian and ethnic minority
workers making it to the highest levels of management
- the boardroom - is very small and in some cases too
small to analyse

highlight the areas where government and employers
have made progress and others where more work is
urgently required if Britain is to establish a genuinely
fair society.
3
In an increasingly diverse society this shortfall is
not only morally wrong but a self-inflicted wound by
companies that waste management potential

The purpose of the exercise was to understand how well
represented ethnic minorities from different ethnicity
groups were in the workplace and particularly within
management of British companies and organisations.
The research paints a detailed picture of the successes
and barriers to success for BAME workers seeking
management positions.
4
Policymakers and employers must be on guard to
ensure that the current recession does not lead to a
reversal of the progress that has been made.
The last time the UK came close to recession, there was
a noticeable slowdown in the growth in BAME managers.

There is certainly no shortage of laws and initiatives by government and other organisations aimed at
eliminating discrimination against ethnic minority workers and at assisting their rise to an equal status in
society with their white colleagues. Since 2000, the government has strengthened the 1974 Race Relations
Act to achieve those two goals. It has also established a number of initiatives including the Ethnic Minority
and Employment Taskforce and the Race Equality and Diversity Action Plan. At the same time it has funded a
host of initiatives such as Ethnic Minority Outreach, Specialist Employment Advisers and the Ethnic Minority
Flexible Fund, which all focused on providing employment and overcoming barriers to work. This programme of
initiatives culminated in December 2008 with the inclusion in the Queen’s Speech of an Equality Bill to simplify
and modernise discrimination law.

04 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top

Mind the gap
The bald statistics show that ethnic minorities are simply
not gaining the share of jobs that their population would
justify. More than one in 10 of the British population
comes from an ethnic group, up from around one in
14 at the start of the millennium. People from BAME
background’s share of the total population has risen from
7.3% in 2000 to 10.3% at the end of 2007. This share is
expected to increase further given that ethnic minority
pupils make up a fifth of pupils in state funded primary
and secondary schools and 17% of UK undergraduate
students. This is the workforce of the future. But the
story of this decade is that its share of the employed
population has failed to match that increase, growing
from 5.4% to 8.5% over the same period.
When it comes to those making it to management grade,
the gap between the overall population and those in
work is even greater. Just 6.8%, or one in 15, were in a
management position at the end of 2007, up from 4.4%
in 2000. In other words non-white workers have failed
to secure the share of management posts that the size
of the population would justify. It also means that white
workers, who make up 90% of the population, currently
hold 93.2% of management positions in the UK. The
depressing implication is that there may still be a
colour bar to management jobs in the UK 33 years
after the passing of the landmark Race Relations Act
of 1976.
Figure 1:
Projection of BAME total and management population
But the most disturbing conclusion from this report
is that this shortfall between ethnic minorities’
share of the UK working population and their share
of management jobs shows no signs of narrowing. In
fact, taking the trend rates of the last seven years and
projecting them forward shows that if anything, the
gap will widen. As Figure 1 shows, if the growth rates
seen in the last seven years continue over the next seven
then by 2015, 15.2% of the population will come from
an ethnic group but only 11.2% will have achieved the
heights of management. A gap of 3.5 percentage points
in 2007 will have widened to 4 percentage points in
seven years’ time.
This means that not only will the representation of ethnic
minority groups within management never be in line
with their share of overall population, but that with each
passing year the gap will get wider. Put bluntly, it means
each generation of ethnic minority people entering the
workforce will see a smaller proportion of their number
reaching management than the previous one. Given that
an increasing share of school-leavers joining the workforce
will come from a BAME background, policymakers and
businesses will have to run twice as hard to close the gap.
Of course it is impossible to use past patterns to predict
exactly how populations will change over future years.
But, other things being equal, without policy intervention
or some shock event, the trend will not only fail to improve
- it will get worse with each passing year. This is in stark
contrast to the forecasts for gender equality.1

16%

14% 15.2%
14.5%
13.8%
12% 13.2%
12.5%
11.9%
11.4% 11.2%
10% 10.8%
10.3% 10.6%
9.9% 9.9%
9.3% 9.3%
8% 8.8% 8.7%
8.1% 8.4% 8.2%
7.3% 7.6% 7.7%
6% 6.8% 7.2%
6.0% 6.1% 6.4%
5.2% 5.6%
4% 4.9%
4.4%
2%

0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
(E) (E) (E) (E) (E) (E) (E) (E)
% of BAME in UK population % of BAME in UK management
Source: Labour Force Surveys 2000-2007
CAGR for the period 2000 to 2007 has been used to project the listed categories up until 2012 to
estimate the percentage of BAME as part of the population vs. BAME in management positions.
This analysis is intended to provide a very rough indication of how the BAME population in the UK 1 The Sex and Power 2008 report by the Commission for Equalities and Human Rights (CEHR)
may fare in terms of representation in management positions found that the gap between the sexes would close – albeit in 73 years’ time in the case of senior
business directorships

05 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top

Mixed picture across sectors,
regions and gender
While the headline figures tell a story, the detailed
picture is more complex and no more reassuring.
An analysis of the sectoral split tells a dramatic story.
Just three sectors account for almost 80% of all ethnic
minority workers in management positions. The largest
employers are those in public administration, education
and health, an ONS category that is heavily weighted
towards the public sector. These sectors employ almost
exactly one third of BAME managers or 137,130 people,
up from a quarter at the turn of the century. It is closely
followed by firms in banking, finance and insurance,
which employs slightly more than a quarter of ethnic
minority managers (106,189). Banks and other finance
houses have made large strides towards improving the
diversity of their workforces in recent years. Lastly
hotels, restaurants and shops make up a further fifth
with 82,591.

This leaves the remaining fifth of posts divided

between transport and communications, construction,
manufacturing and other services. While the last seven
years have seen a dramatic rise in the number of
BAME managers employed in public administration
- from 25.7% to 33.2% - there have sadly been falls
or stagnation in BAME shares of all other sectors.
For example in 2000 8.4% or one in 12 of ethnic
minority managers were employed in transport and
communications. In 2007 that share has fallen to 6.1%
or fewer than one in 16. Some of these industries can
command high salaries, especially compared with the Figure 3:
public sector and the catering and retail sectors. The BAME managers by industry sectors 2000-2007
reason is that while the public sector and the financial
services industry have increased the number of BAME Industry sector BAME share BAME share CAGR
managers at a faster pace than the rise in the overall 2007 % 2000% 2000-07 %
population, other sectors have fallen behind. As Figure 3
shows, four sectors have seen growth rates in numbers Public admin,
33.2 25.7 15.9
of BAME workers rise at a slower rate than the average education & Health
for the UK as a whole - in some cases by a large margin. Banking, finance
25.7 23.1 13.4
& insurance
Furthermore the gender issue is a major concern when
it comes to director-level. Just 34.1% of senior managers Distribution, retail
20.0 23.2 9.4
and restaurants
from a BAME background are women, down from 35.4%
in 2000. Over that same period white women have Manufacturing 9.8 13.0 7.4
increased their share versus white men from 35.0%
Transport &
in 2000 to 46.3% in 2007. Admittedly the figures 6.1 8.4 6.7
communications
are highly volatile - in 2006 more than 50% of BAME
managers were women - but the lack of a clear upward Other services 2.8 4.3 5.3
trend is worrying for gender as well as race equality.
Construction 2.3 2.3 6.3
TOTAL 100 100 11.9

Source: Labour Force Survey 2000-07

BAME share = percentage of total BAME population in management positions in the UK2

06 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top Ethnic groups CAGR – 2000-07 %
(compound annual growth rates)
 Public Sector – Civil Service
The Civil Service is committed to improving the
delivery of services for everyone in society by building
a workforce which reflects the communities it serves.
A partnership between the Cabinet Office and
the National School of Government led to the
establishment of a leadership development scheme for
underrepresented groups in the Senior Civil Service
(SCS). The programme named ‘Leaders UnLtd’ is
a positive action initiative open to Grade 6/7 (or
equivalent) UK civil servants who are either women,
PRIVATE Sector – CREDIT SUISSE
“Keys to Leadership; Unlocking Potential”
Credit Suisse won an RfO award in 2008 in recognition
of the company introducing a leadership development
programme for high potential, high performing and
under represented ethnic minority middle managers.
Key components of the programme included 3 full days
of leadership training; a one-to-one session with an
executive coach; comprehensive talent assessments
including a detailed 360 degree feedback process;
07 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top
or who have a disability, or are from specific minority
ethnic backgrounds and who aspire to join the SCS.
The current Leaders UnLtd programme replaces
the original Civil Service ‘Pathways’ leadership
development scheme which was launched in 2002 to
address race inequality at senior management level.
This earlier scheme provided minority staff with the
tools and experience required to prepare them for
competing for SCS positions.
participation in a 6-month group mentoring programme
after the leadership training and a Myers-Briggs
Personality Assessment.
Since the programme was introduced 120 people have
participated, 49% from BAME backgrounds. As a result,
the number of ethnic minorities in leadership positions
with Credit Suisse has increased significantly. Of the
120 people, 78% have been promoted. And retention
rates have also improved. By the end of 2007, 86% of
all course participants were still with the bank
 Industry sector BAME share BAME share CAGR
2007 % 2000% 2000-07 %
Public admin,
33.2 25.7 15.9
education & Health
Is there a specific black British issue? Banking, finance
25.7 23.1 13.4
& insurance
The growth in the UK’s ethnic minority population and workforce
masks a far more complex pattern of change. Within the ethnic Distribution, retail
20.0 23.2 9.4
minority population, different groups are seeing changes in and restaurants
their share of both overall population and in those reaching Manufacturing 9.8 13.0 7.4
management level. The most dramatic shift is the falling share
of BAME management positions being taken by black workers, Transport &
6.1 8.4 6.7
declining from 27.9% in 2000 to 23.4% in 2007. Much of this can communications
be explained by a similar fall in the overall share of the BAME Other services 2.8 4.3 5.3
population made up by black people, from 27.2% to 23.8%. In
other words, as their relative share of the BAME population falls Construction 2.3 2.3 6.3
so does their share of management posts. TOTAL 100 100 11.9

The worry is that the fall in their share of management Figure 5.

posts is actually falling faster. As Figure 4 shows, Increase in representation in management
black Britons have seen their share of BAME-held positions, by ethnic group
management posts shrink at a faster rate than their
share of the BAME population. One reason may be that Ethnic groups CAGR – 2000-07 %
between 2000 and 2007 the number of black Britons in (compound annual growth rates)
management grew by an annual average of 5.2%, the
lowest of any ethnic minority subgroup and less than half Mixed 8.8%
the total increase for all ethnic minorities (see Figure 5).3 Asian or Asian British 8.4%
Chinese, Asian and mixed race Britons have all enjoyed
growth rates of around 8%. The fastest growth within Black or Black British 5.2%
the BAME community in terms of share of management Chinese 7.6%
posts were among people from the “other ethnic”
subgroup who saw a compound average rate of 14.6%.4 Others 14.6%
As well as being the fastest growth rate of any ethnic
group, it is also the only subgroup to have consistently Source: Labour Force Survey 2000-2007

had a higher share of BAME management jobs compared

with their share of the BAME population (see Figure 4). The composition of the overall BAME population will
always shift as the different subgroups rise and fall in
relative size. However the decline in the share of black
Figure 4. Share of BAME population
Britons reaching management compared with their
share of the overall population should be a warning
30%
sign, as should the slow annual growth in the number
25% reaching management. This should be a worry for
policymakers as it means that there will be fewer role
20% models for aspiring young black people entering the
job market compared with other groups. The danger
15% is that it could undermine efforts to challenge the
underachievement of young black people both at
10% school and in the labour market.5
5%

0%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Black pop share
Black mgt share
3 The recent publication of the Black Power List, in September 2008, which some of Britain’s
Other pop share most influential black people
Other mgt share 4 “Other ethnic” subgroup includes people from Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Japan, Libya, Mauritius,
Morocco, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
Pop share = share of total BAME population
5 A 2005 report by REACH, an independent body commissioned by the Government, highlighted
Mgt share = share of BAME management population the barriers that are preventing some black boys from fulfilling their full potential. The group said
that if more black boys and men overcame these barriers, it could benefit the economy by £24bn
over the next 50 years

08 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top

Positive signs of change
Fortunately there are signs of positive change that could
provide a platform for the acceleration of promotion
of BAME workers into management that is needed to
bridge this gap. There is strong evidence that promotion
prospects for some BAME workers at least have
improved since the start of the decade. According to
RfO’s 2008 Benchmark survey, 66% of the organisations
who benchmarked have a race or cultural diversity
network.6

As Figure 6 shows, ethnic minority workers held 9.0%

of all “foreman or supervisor” positions at the end
of 2007, which means that they are taking a greater
share of these jobs than they are on average across
the whole workforce, for the first time since at least
1999. Despite their archaic job titles, “foremen and
supervisors” represent the layers of middle management
that will supply the senior managers of the future. This
is good news as it provides the platform for a long-term
increase in their share of management roles that is
essential to ending the shortfall in the number reaching
management.

Figure 6:
BAME shares of employed population,
management and supervisors

10%
9.0
8.5
8% 7.9
7.3 7.4
6.7 7.0 6.8
6.3 6.7 6.5 6.4
6.2 6.0 6.1 6.1
6% 5.7 5.6
5.4 5.3 5.2
4.9 4.8
4.4
4%

2%

0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
BAME Employed population BAME in Management
BAME in Foreman or Supervisor positions
Source: Labour Force Survey, 2000-2007

6 The Race for Opportunity Benchmark, published June 2008, measures and shares members progress across key areas

09 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top

 Regional landscape Figure 7:
Changes in regional profile of management
2000-2007
Another positive aspect is the increase in the share
of management jobs taken by BAME workers in areas
try sector BAME share BAME share CAGR Region 2007 share 2000 share Up CAGR
outside
2007 % London. 2000%
Given the deep racial
2000-07 %and cultural % % Down 2000-07 %
diversity evident in the capital, it comes as no surprise
admin, that 33.2
more than half North East 1.9 0.6 30.2
25.7of ethnic minority
15.9 managers in the
tion & Health UK work in London. In fact almost a quarter (23.6%) of
Eastern 9.0 5.8 19.1
ng, finance all managers in London are from the BAME population.
25.7 the city’s23.1
However share of the 13.4
UK total has narrowed West Midlands 8.1 5.6 18.0
rance
to 51.0% from almost 60% at the start of the decade North West 4.7 3.4 17.2
ution, retail as other regions have responded to the mix of talent on
20.0 23.2 9.4
staurants offer in the labour market. As Figure 7 shows, areas such South West 9.5 2.6 17.0
acturing as Eastern
9.8 England and the North
13.0 7.4East have increased Scotland 1.7 1.3 16.1
their shares, thanks to very strong growth since 2000.
port & This finding will fuel Yorks & Humber 4.4 4.1 13.2
6.1 8.4hope that equal
6.7 opportunities within
unications management is not just a “London story” and that the East Midlands 4.3 4.2 12.4
services benefits
2.8 of having4.3a team of managers
5.3 that reflects the
ethnic mix of an organisation’s customer or supplier base Merseyside 0.2 0.2 - 10.5
uction 2.3
are relevant across2.3the country.6.3 South East 11.2 12.7 9.8
100 100 11.9
London 51.0 58.5 9.4
Source: Labour Force Survey 2000-2007
2007 and 2000 columns = share of total BAME in management positions
CAGR = compound annual growth rates

The positive stories that emerge from the data analysis

should be celebrated and hailed as inspirations for the
c groups CAGR – 2000-07 % next generations of BAME workers. But sadly, as this
(compound annual growth rates) report has shown, they do not tell the full story. The
8.8% recent increase in the growth rate in the number of
ethnic minorities making it to management level is good
or Asian British 8.4% news but there is still a long way to go.
or Black British 5.2%
e 7.6%
14.6%
10 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top
Trouble at the top
It is at the highest levels of management, Board-level,
that having role models of successful people from ethnic
minority backgrounds is vital for encouraging young
people to set ambitious goals for themselves and to
strive to achieve them. It is evident in the United States
that the election of Barack Obama has encouraged
thousands of young African-Americans to believe that
they are eligible for any position in the country. There is
no doubt that having such role models inspires people to
say, “Yes, I can”.
Sadly in the UK the picture is not encouraging. The
analysis shows that just 5.6% of senior management
jobs were held by people from an ethnic minority in
2007. This is actually a substantial improvement from
the previous seven years when the total hovered around
3.8%. It is therefore too early to say whether 2007 was
the start of a positive trend or simply a blip.
It is also worth bearing in mind that the definition of
“director-level” is quite broad. As well as senior officials
in national and local government and directors and chief
executives of major companies and organisations it also
includes anyone who is an officer in the armed services, the
police, and in the fire and ambulance services.
While having BAME managers in the emergency services
and the Army, Navy and RAF is vital for increasing
opportunity and tackling discrimination in key areas
of public service, it is probably in the most high profile
posts that it is essential to have figures from the ethnic
minorities. Numbers of BAME managers at the very
top of areas such as politics and business are so
small that it is hard to get meaningful data. This
in itself is an indication of the seriousness of the
problem.
The business community has done little better than
Westminster. A review of the FTSE 100 - the 100 largest
companies on the London Stock Exchange - found that
47 directorships were held by people coming from
non-European ethnic backgrounds, or 4.7% of the total.
This is an increase on 2004, when just 2.3% held a
directorship and only 1.5% were executive directors.
While the increase is good news it is heavily dependent
on the recruitment of ethnic minority directors from
overseas. There are eight BAME women in total on FTSE
100 Boards (7% of directors). However, all hold non-
executive positions and only one woman is a British
national.7
7 Canfield University, The Female FTSE Report 2008
11 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top
The overall message is that, even in industries such as
the public sector where organisations have made great
advances in opening up management positions to BAME
workers, progress has not yet filtered up to the highest
echelons. Contrast the 8.2% of BAME Civil Servants with
the 3.3% at the most senior levels, for example. It would
be extremely worrying if this trend were to continue as it
would send a message that just as women have fought to
break through the so-called glass ceiling, ethnic minority
managers may now face invisible barriers of their own to
promotion to the most senior levels within industry and
public service.
Westminster politics
n The UK’s first black Cabinet Minister, former
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Paul Boateng, was
appointed just seven years ago in 2002. Three
years later, Dawn Butler became the first black
female minister in the House of Commons, as MP
for Brent South. For 10 years Diane Abbott was
the only black woman MP, until being joined in the
Commons in 1997 by Oona King
n Since then Baroness Amos became the first black
woman to attend Cabinet as Secretary of State for
International Development while in 2007 Baroness
Scotland was made Attorney General, a post she
still holds
n There are currently six BAME ministers below
Cabinet rank - Sir Ali Darzi, Parmjit Dhanda, Sadiq
Khan, David Lammy, Shahid Malik, and Baroness
Vadera. So just seven or 5.7% of the 122 members
of the Government are ethnic minority MPs or
peers.
n This is actually better than the picture across
Parliament as a whole. Just 2% or 15 MPs are non-
white with 13 Labour MPs, two Conservatives and
none from any other party. There should be 66 if
the 646-strong House of Commons were to reflect
proportionately the ethnic minority mix of the
country
n The Government has conceded that there are
also too few BAME people within the senior levels
of the Civil Service. The most recent figures showed
that despite doubling the proportion of staff
from ethnic minority backgrounds since 1998, the
share of BAME officials at a senior level has risen
from 1.6% to 3.3%. Even across the Service as a
whole, 8.2% of staff came from ethnic minority
backgrounds, as of 2004.
Credit crunched?
The UK is entering what could be its deepest and longest
recession for at least 30 years. This will inflict pain on all
parts of the economy and especially on the workforce,
where some fear unemployment could rise as high as 3.5
million, almost double the current total of 1.82 million.
This will make it harder for young workers to enter
the labour market and for existing employees to gain
promotion as companies seek to reduce wage costs.
It would be a disaster if BAME workers and managers
were to bear a disproportionate burden of these
cutbacks. There is already a large and widening gap
between the share of management jobs going to ethnic
minority workers and their share of the population.
Retrograde decisions by employers and failure of
policymakers to prevent a return of discrimination would
only worsen the problem. Indeed the data shows that the
rise in the number of BAME managers slowed sharply in
2005 and recovered only marginally in 2006 (see Figure
8). There may be many factors behind this slowdown,
but in 2005 there was a fear that the economy was
about to go into recession as house prices started to
fall. While there is no direct evidence that this triggered
a resistance to promoting ethnic minority workers,
policymakers would be wise to monitor the trends within
management as the UK goes through a downturn.
Figure 8: Annual change in BAME population and
numbers in management
30%
25%
20%
15% 14.40%
11.43%
10% 8.98%
5% 6.84%
5.49% 5.74%
3.94% 2.79%
0%
2002 2003 2004 2005
BAME Population
BAME Population in Management
Source: Labour Force Survey 2002-2007
12 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top
Conclusion
Black, Asian and minority ethnic workers have made
huge strides in the race to achieve management
responsibility in organisations across the UK. There
are many positive stories to tell and these should be
celebrated. But at the same time it is clear that BAME
workers have not achieved the share of management
jobs that their rising share of the general population
would justify. The further up the corporate and
organisational ladder one looks, the fewer ethnic
minority faces one finds.
This must ring alarm bells with both employers and
policymakers. It is not just that it hints at the possibility
of institutional racism in corporate Britain - it is exactly
10 years since the Macpherson Report made that
devastating finding about the Metropolitan Police in the
wake of the murder of Stephen Lawrence. It is also a
wasted opportunity for employers to ensure that they
recruit the best talent to their senior management
positions.
What does this lack of ethnic
minority representation at Board-
level mean in practice?
It means a narrowness of leadership perspective, a waste
of talented people who bring new ideas and innovation
to business and a lack of role models to attract the
brightest individuals of the next generation. It means
that both the public and private sectors are paying lip
service to race equality. It also fails to make commercial
sense. As the UK continues to become more culturally
diverse and racially mixed, consumer tastes and trends
will change, often quite rapidly on occasions. It will be
hard for organisations that do not have a management
mix that reflects the demography of their customers
9.24% to be able to keep pace with that and understand the
nuances of the changes in demand.
6.84%
5.08%
3.41% To again borrow from Barack Obama’s rhetoric, it is
time for a change, not just on moral grounds but on
2006 2007 commercial grounds. If no action is taken now then
the problem will not just remain, it will get worse and
become a more obvious lesion on the corporate and
public sectors. That is hardly the face that UK plc
wants to present to the rest of the world.
Recommendations
To shatter the last glass ceiling, words are no longer
enough. Action is needed now. The devastating picture
painted by this report demonstrates the need for
immediate and constructive action by government and
positive intervention by employers. Each must make a
co-ordinated contribution to ensure that their actions
have maximum effect.
Employers can contribute by looking at their own
individual employment and promotion policies. A
sustained, long term commitment to the agenda and
recognition that it will take lots of small steps by lots of
people are required.
This should include:

The Government must make race an issue in its
employment agenda and campaigns, just as it has done
for gender. Until it acknowledges the existence of race
we will not achieve race equality. To achieve this it must:
n Promote positive action to speed up progress of ethnic
minorities in a way that both gives clarity to employers
and does not stoke up accusations of unfair treatment
against the white population;
n Invest in targeted projects to promote the progression
of BAME people into leadership positions;
n Ensure that the achievements - working class whites
and ethnic minorities - are recognised across the
curriculum; and
n Setting public targets and monitoring and measuring
progress in an accountable and visible way;
n Taking positive action such as organising workplace
mentoring, supporting employee networks and
establishing links with the community to provide positive
role models; and
n Ensuring BAME workers can see clearly how they
can progress within an organisation, ensuring the
talent pipeline is representative of the workforce and
community. There can be no more ‘old school tie’ or
‘one of us’.

n Ensure that talented BAME people progress in the

public sector; and in all walks of public life. Only by
leading by example can government show the private
sector what can be achieved.

13 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top

Contact us
Business in the Community’s Race for Opportunity is
the only race diversity campaign that has access to
and influence over the leaders of the UK’s best known
organisations.

The campaign aims to:

n raise awareness of the barriers preventing the BAME

community from making progress in the workplace;

n communicate the need to speed up progress

on the introduction of policies that further better
representation of ethnic minorities;

n highlight the responsibility and role of leaders in

delivering race diversity; and

n make clear the economic and business argument for

organisations investing in race diversity

Sandra Kerr, National Director, Race for Opportunity

As the National Director for Race for Opportunity, Sandra

strongly believes there is a need for wider business
engagement across all four strands of the campaign,
recruiting and developing individuals, marketing
to ethnic minority people as profitable consumers,
including diverse communities within CSR activities and
including ethnic minority businesses in supplier chains
and networks. Sandra is particularly passionate about
raising the profile of senior role models from diverse
backgrounds to inspire the next generation and creating
an inclusive environment.

Before joining Race for Opportunity Sandra worked in

the Cabinet Office advising Cabinet Ministers on diversity
and policies on race, disability, gender, and work life
balance across Whitehall. Sandra also finds some time
to work as a consultant team adviser for the Work
Foundation’s Leadership Programmes for senior leaders
in the public and private sector.

For further information on the

Race for Opportunity campaign.
Please visit www.raceforopportunity.org.uk
or telephone 020 7566 8708

14 I Race for Opportunity (RfO) | Race to the top

Race for Opportunity Board Members

MITIE (Chair of RfO) NHS Appointment Commission

Ms Ruby McGregor-Smith, CEO Ms Anne Watts, CBE, CEO
ASDA Mr Andy Clark, Retail Director Paradoes Mr Denys Rayner, CEO
Barclays Bank PLC Mr Vinit Chandra Pertemps People Management
Managing Director, Global Commercial Ms Carmen Watson, Managing Director
Products Global Retail & Commercial - Commercial Division
Banking
Roast Mr Iqbal Wahhab, CEO
British Army Colonel Mark Abraham
Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd
Assistant Director Employment
Mr Jat Sahota
Department of Health Head of Corporate Responsibility
Surinder Sharma, National Director
Shell Companies in the UK
for Equality & Human Rights
Mr James Smith, Chairman
EDF Energy Mr Patrick Clarke
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
Director of Connections
Mr Gordon Pell
KPMG Ms Rachel Campbell Chairman, Regional Markets
UK Head of People Management
Transport for London
Mr Andrew Quincy
Director of Group Procurement

Race for Opportunity Champions

Accenture HSBC Bank Plc

British Army KPMG
ASDA London Development Agency
Barclays Bank Plc Learning & Skills Council
BT Lloyds TSB Group plc
Citi McDonald’s Restaurants Ltd
Deloitte & Touche National Grid
Department for Work and Pensions Pertemps Recruitment Partnership
Department of Health Prudential
EDF Energy RBS
Ernst & Young LLP Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd
HM Revenue & Customs Shell Companies in the UK
Home Office Transport for London

For further information on the Race for Opportunity campaign.

Please visit www.raceforopportunity.org.uk or telephone 020 7566 8661

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Telephone: 020 7566 8650
Registered Charity No: 297716.

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