The chairman of Tesco has claimed that white men have become an “endangered species” on the boards of British companies amid the push to increase diversity in business.

In comments that are likely to court controversy, John Allan suggested it was becoming harder for men to become non-executive directors of firms.

“If you are female and from an ethnic background and preferably both then you are in an extremely propitious period,” the supermarket group’s chairman said at a panel discussion about how to become a non-exec, at Retail Week Live.