British Race Awards open for nominations

The growing concern about the levels of diversity in major companies has led Green Park recruitment and the SPM group to launch that British Race (Race and Cultural Equality) Awards which opened for nominations on 26th April 2016. Raj Tulsiani, CEO of Green Park said, "Green Park's annual investigations show we are going backwards in terms of BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) representation at board and leadership levels. There is still something of a mountain to climb when it comes to ethnicity in the UK workplace, only 6.6% of the 20 most senior positions (Top 20) in FTSE 100 companies are occupied by BAMEs".

BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) professionals in the UK statistically have a lower and eroding trust in businesses. This is because years of conversations about Diversity & Inclusion have led to so few recognised improvements for them as customers and employees. As the global economy recovers and competition increases, the importance of talent in leadership has become greater than ever. Many companies have declared their intention to promote diverse talent.

The Facts

Over the last 2 years, the growth of BAMEs on boards of FTSE 100 companies has slowed, going from a 0.7% growth rate during 2014 to 2015 to a meagre 0.1% from 2015 to 2016. This translates to just 6.7% of FTSE 100 board members being BAME – an increase from 6.6% in 2015 and 5.9% in 2014.
During 2015 to March 2016 the number of leadership roles occupied by people of African descent remained unchanged. Conversely, there was a drop of 0.9% within leaders of Asian origin. The most under represented ethno-cultural group, East Asians, although saw a small increase, are still the smallest group within the FTSE 100.
Between 2014 and 2015 there was negative growth for BAMEs within leadership positions of -0.5%. The FTSE 100 lost around 40 BAME leaders within a year. This accounts for approximately 8.3% of the total BAME population in the FTSE 100. If this remains constant, this year will see a loss of 35 more BAME leaders in the top 100 UK companies.
BAMEs occupy only 3.2% of Ministerial Departments Top 20 positions and 2.7% of Non-Ministerial Departments UK Government Top 20 positions.

The Race and Cultural Equality Awards will showcase leaders, campaigners and inspirational people making a positive difference in society and to organisations. Having success stories and role models is crucial to push and break down the boundaries for ethnic minorities. Nominations from the public and businesses opened on 26th April 2016 during the launch of the Top 100 BAME Leaders in Business list and will close on 31st July 2016.. The RACE Awards ceremony 2016 will be held in November 2016 in London.

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