Britain's leading public companies should have at least one non-white director by 2021, a Government-backed report will demand next week.

Sky News has learnt that a review lasting nearly two years chaired by Sir John Parker, the City grandee, has concluded that FTSE-100 boardrooms are insufficiently representative of their workforces, customer bases and supply chains.

The report will contain the most significant recommendations so far aimed at bolstering the ethnic diversity of British companies.

Insiders said on Saturday that in addition to the target for FTSE-100 companies, it will urge the next 250 largest public companies to appoint at least one board member of colour by 2024.

It will also call on the chairs of the UK's largest businesses to work with boardroom colleagues to mentor non-white colleagues to give them a better chance of reaching the upper echelons of the private sector.


A person familiar with Sir John's report, known as The Parker Review, said it would highlight the fact that while 14% of the UK's population is non-white, that statistic fell to just 8% of the nearly 1100 directors of FTSE-100 boards.

Image: Top bosses are to be told to end all-white boards by 2021

Only 1.5% of FTSE-100 directors are both not white and are UK citizens, reflecting the fact that some companies in the index - such as India's Vedanta Resources - have boards dominated by directors who hold foreign, rather than British, passports.

Margot James, the Business Minister, is due to attend the report's launch on Wednesday at the London offices of EY, the professional services firm, suggesting that the Government plans to endorse its recommendations.

Employers' groups such as the CBI are also expected to lend their support to the findings.

Sir John was commissioned to undertake the review by Sir Vince Cable, the then Business Secretary, in 2014.

In an invitation to the report's launch, Sir John said: "I continue to support the importance of ethnic and cultural diversity, especially in British companies trading globally.

"Those of us privileged to lead company boards should ensure that ethnic diversity becomes a natural component in building strong and competent boards.

"I am a firm believer that greater diversity on boards leads to stronger, more balanced business decisions."

Image: FTSE-350 boards should have a non-white director by 2024

Earlier this year Sajid Javid, Sir Vince's successor, commissioned Baroness McGregor-Smith, the departing boss of outsourcing group Mitie, to conduct a separate review examining the issues facing black and minority ethnic people in the workplace.

Recent trends imply that FTSE-100 bosses will have to work hard to meet the 2021 target: there are no black British chief executives in the index and fewer than a handful of black people in FTSE-100 boardrooms, according to Michael Eboda, who compiles authoritative research on ethnic diversity in Britain.

Current examples include Dambisa Moyo, a non-executive director of Barclays, while Rakesh Kapoor, the Indian chief executive of consumer products manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser is one of few non-white bosses.

The push by Sir John to improve diversity will come a week ahead of a separate report led by Sir Philip Hampton, the GlaxoSmithKline chairman, which will set targets for wider female representation in the upper executive ranks of top companies.

FTSE-100 boards will also come under pressure from the Government in the next few weeks to establish formal representation of employees and customers on their boards.

Theresa May reiterated her determination to overhaul corporate governance practices in British business in a speech to the Conservative Party conference, and a green paper is due to be published shortly.

Sir John could not be reached for comment on Saturday.