‘The snowy peaks of British enterprise stay stubbornly White’
For the first time in six years, the UK’s largest corporations have stopped holding senior positions. Activists accuse blue-chip companies of paying lip service to measures to promote diversity.
According to research by the consultancy Green Park, there are no black directors, chairmen, or finance directors in any FTSE 100 company.
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The results come after cruise operator Carnival, led by managing director Arnold Donald, pulled out of the FTSE 100 last year and South African businessman Fred Phaswana stepped down from his role as chairman of packaging giant Mondi.
“Diversity window dressing”
Green Park chairman Trevor Phillips, former head of the Racial Equality Commission, said: “The snowy peaks of British business remain stubbornly white. We cannot continue working as usual. The time has come for shareholders, consumers and employees to wonder if Black Lives Matter is rhetoric rather than reality. ”
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The former politician said a “critical issue” that needs to be addressed for many black candidates running for executive positions is the belief that they can be recruited into “diversity window dressing” while making important decisions how important appointments are excluded or acquisitions that are carried out by an “all male or all white” management team.
“Things are not getting better”
Green Park said the representation of most other ethnic minorities, including blacks, in top positions has increased, but only marginally, since the first report was published in 2014.
As a result, 10 out of 297 executives in the top three roles at FTSE 100 companies are from ethnic minority backgrounds, the same percentage as in 2014.
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Sheree Atcheson, Peakon’s Global Director for Diversity, Justice and Inclusion, said, “This report makes it clear that things are not getting any better. We managed to improve the representation in other areas. So why not the black representation? Organizations need to be aware of this problem – and that means genuinely questioning the problem. ”
