The Parker Review Committee has published the 2023 results of its latest voluntary census on the ethnic diversity of the boards of FTSE 350 companies and 50 of the UK’s largest private companies, carried out jointly with the Department for Business and Trade, and sponsored by EY.
In its first report, published in 2017, the Review made a series of recommendations, setting a “One by 2021” target for all FTSE 100 boards to have at least one director from an ethnic minority background by December 2021 and a similar “One by 2024” target for all FTSE 250 boards. Last year, the Parker Review set 50 of the UK’s largest private companies a target of having at least one ethnic minority director on the main board by December 2027. It also asked each FTSE 350 company and each top 50 private company to set its own target for December 2027, for the percentage of its senior management team who identify as being from an ethnic minority.
Results of 2023 voluntary census
FTSE 100
The voluntary census showed that 96 FTSE 100 companies had ethnic minority representation on their company boards as of 31 December 2023. This is in line with the 2022 reported data.
There are now 12 ethnic minority CEOs in the FTSE 100. This is a significant rise from 7 in 2022. There are also 7 ethnic minority Chairs, an increase from 6 last year.
People with ethnic minority backgrounds now hold 19% of all director positions in the FTSE 100, a rise of one percentage point from last year. The data also shows an increase in the number of companies with more than one ethnic minority director from 49 in 2022 to 56 in 2023.
FTSE 250
With the Parker Review’s “One by 2024” target date fast approaching in December, 79% of the 222 FTSE 250 companies reporting have met the target. This is an increase of 12 percentage points from 2022, demonstrating significant progress during the year.
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By GlobalDataIn December 2023, 175 of the 250 companies (70%) met this target. This is an increase from 149 in 2022. Although the pace of change is encouraging, there needs to be much more progress in 2024 if the FTSE 250 target is to be met.
