Number of FTSE 100 top positions held by black people drops to zero
There is not a single black business leader at any FTSE 100 company in the UK despite businesses pledging to do more for racial inequality.
Research by executive recruitment consultancy Green Park has found that the number of black people filling leadership positions of chairman, chief executive or finance chief at FTSE 100 firms is zero.
Led by former politician and chair of Green Park Trevor Phillips, the report calls for shareholders, consumers and employers to begin scrutinising British businesses about empty promises when it comes to race equality.
Phillips said: “These figures put some flesh on the bone of last year’s protests.
“We know there is no shortage of qualified candidates to fill these roles if companies are willing to look. Yet the snowy peaks of British business remain stubbornly white.”
The new research has been released in conjunction with Race Equality Week and Black History Month, revealing that only 3.4 per cent of bosses in the three leading roles have ethnic minority backgrounds.
That makes only 10 people out of 297 top positions.
While the numbers of most other ethnic groups in chief ranks increased slightly, the percentage of black executive and non-executive directors has only fallen since Green Park’s first report in 2014.
Phillips added: “It is time that shareholders, consumers and employees start questioning whether Black Lives Matter is just rhetoric rather than reality.
“Corporate leaders need to stop telling us how much they care and do something to show us that black lives really do matter.”