The House of Lords lauds diversity with a new power list of the top 100 business leaders from ethnic minority backgrounds
If there's one thing the City is in dire need of, it's diversity.
That's why a Westminster peers have grouped together to bring us a power list of the top 100 business leaders from ethnic minority groups.
The top 100 most influential BAME (black, asian and minority ethnic) people in business were lauded in the house of Lords last night to launch Britain’s first ever list of the top 100 BAME leaders in business.
Nominations were reviewed by a judging panel, which included the likes of Baroness Oona King and Trevor Phillips OBE, both former Chairs of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and Turning Point chief executive Lord Victor Adebowale.
Those featured on the list include; Samir Assaf, global banking and markets chief at HSBC, Sacha Berendji, director or retail at Marks and Spencer, and Google managing director Adrian Joseph.
New research conducted by Green Park, which helped to commission the BAME 100 power list, shows that over the last 2 years, the growth of business figures on boards of FTSE 100 companies from ethnic minority backgrounds has slowed, going from a 0.7 per cent growth rate in 2015 to a meager 0.1 per cent this year.
Read more: Still pale, still stale: We need to talk about the diversity deficit
This means that under seven per cent of FTSE 100 board members come from ethnic minority backgrounds.
The research also found a negative growth trend for BAME workers in senior roles.FTSE 100 businesses lost 40 BAME leaders in a year and will lose another 35 this year if the trend carries on.
Amir Kabel, Head of Diversity at Green Park, said: "Recent research we have worked on has found that over the last three years due to the lack of real focus, the number of black and minority ethnic leaders has reduced and is in fact declining."
"This is why it is incredibly important this list has been produced. We want to recognise the BAME leaders, celebrate their achievements and go out to the rest of the UK and show that the talent and role models are out there.
"This list is a start of a number of initiatives we are doing to get the BAME talent issue back on the agenda of companies."