Race for Opportunity canvasses the Government

Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing St

London
SW1A 2AA

17th October 2011

Diverisity on Boards

 Dear Prime Minister,

Business in the Community's Race for Opportunity Campaign and the Independent Ethnic Minority

Advisory Group welcome the Lord Davies review and the amendment to the UK Corporate

Governance Code recently announced by the Financial Reporting Council, including the

requirement for listed companies to report annually on their boardroom gender diversity policy. We

would welcome the opportunity to work with you to widen the scope of the conversation from

gender to encompass all aspects of boardroom diversity.

Diversity across the board is important - race, gender. age, sexuality, disability. In addition to the

well established business case for diversity on boards we also believe that it is important that young

people from diverse backgrounds have visible role models at the top table of corporate Britain.

The recent Cranfield University report ~Women on Boards, Six Month Monitoring Report" provides

an interesting insight into the ethnic diversity of UK boards. According to the report, only 53

directorships are held by individuals from non-European ethnic backgrounds. The overall

proportion of ethnic minority directors in the FTSE 100 is 5.5%. By comparison ethnic minorities

make up 12% of the UK working population, with that number set to increase substantially as 20%

of pupils in secondary school education, and 25% of children in primary school education, come

from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Race for Opportunity is Business in the Community's race campaign and is committed to improving

employment opportunities for ethnic minorities across the UK through its strong relationships with

the leaders of many of the UK's largest corporate organisations. RfO aims are closely aligned with

those of the Independent Ethnic Minority Advisory group which was set up five years ago to advise

the Government on best practice and actions to influence policy and improve the employment

outcomes for ethnic minority Britons.

We believe it is essential that businesses establish goals that seek to reflect the rich diversity of our

society within their boardrooms. We would welcome the opportunity to hear the Government's

thinking on realising full boardroom diversity in the UK. We would be delighted to work with you to

establish a policy to ensure that business is equipped to realise the full value of the diversity that

exists within the UK's talent pool.

Yours sincerely,

Adrian Joseph
Chair
Race for Opportunity
Director

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UK & I

Iqbal Wahhab

Chair
Ethnic Minority Advisory Group
Chief Executive

Roast

Ruby McGregor - Smith

Member
Business in the Community Board
Chief Executive

MITIE Group PLC

We believe it is essential that businesses establish goals that seek to reflect the rich diversity of our

society within their boardrooms. We would welcome the opportunity to hear the Government's

thinking on realising full boardroom diversity in the UK. We would be delighted to work with you to

establish a policy to ensure that business is equipped to realise the full value of the diversity that

exists within the UK's talent pool.

Yours sincerely,

Adrian Joseph
Chair
Race for Opportunity
Director

Search,

Google
UK & I

Iqbal Wahhab

Chair
Ethnic Minority Advisory Group
Chief Executive

Roast

Ruby McGregor - Smith

Member
Business in the Community Board
Chief Executive

MITIE Group PLC