Nearly a third of FTSE 250 companies face a call to hurry up and appoint ethnic minority directors, following publication of the latest Parker Review.

Among the UK’s 100 largest listed companies, 96 now meet the target set by the government-backed review of having one ethnic minority board member. But for the FTSE 250, despite progress, 30% are still to find a single director from a minority group before a deadline of December this year.

The Parker Review report says: “We encourage those FTSE 250 companies which have no ethnic minority directors to review what they might be able to do to meet the target.”

However, the review detects signs that the largest companies have resisted the urge to take a “tick box” approach to minority representation. The number of FTSE 100 companies with more than one ethnic minority director has risen to 56, from 49 the previous year.

“This increase reassures us that companies are not following a ‘one and done’ policy by simply seeking to achieve the Review target,” the report says. “Boards appear to be simply recruiting on merit and potential and this has led to greater numbers of ethnic minority directors.”

The Parker Review was launched in 2016 under the leadership of Sir John Parker; it found that directors from minority groups accounted for only 8% of the 1,087 directors in the FTSE 100. That figure is now up to 19% in the FTSE 100 and 13.5% in the FTSE 250. Among the largest private companies, the figure is 11%. This is against 17% of the UK population as a whole. In 2017, when the Parker Review began to set targets, only 47 FTSE 100 companies had ethnic minority directors.

Below the board

For the first time, the Parker Review has looked at representation in senior management immediately below board level. It finds that 13% of FTSE 100 company managers are from ethnic minority backgrounds, while in the FTSE 250 the number is 12%. The review says the FTSE 100 is aiming for 17% and the FTSE 250 15.5%.

While the Parker Review has not set targets for specific minority group representation, the report does reveal concerns and calls on companies to adjust their recruitment.

“The data indicate that the percentage of directorships held by Asian individuals is roughly proportional to their representation in the UK population.

“It also indicates that the Black community is not proportionally represented at senior levels of business if we compare our numbers with Black representation in the UK population as a whole.

“We encourage companies to evolve their approach here.”

Last week, a report from the recruitment specialists Green Park said that although the prospects for women and people from ethnic minorities had improved, they were still on a “B road” to the top, because they were under-represented in many pipeline roles.

Green Park’s survey finds that ethnic representation across the top 3 management roles (chair, CEO and CFO) is about 8% in the FTSE 100 and only 4% in the FTSE 250.

Data providers MSCI said their research showed women were filling more boardroom roles but still struggling to access top executive jobs.

As a whole, the surveys reveal general improvement. But they are beginning to shed light on more detailed issues. It’s these questions that need addressing next.