Less than two years is the amount of time remaining for FTSE 100 companies to respond to the recommendations made by
the Parker Review Steering Committee. “One by ’21” seemed achievable in 2017, but as we enter 2020, while there are early signs of progress, the overall ambition looks very challenging. Just to remind us of what the Parker Review asked of corporate Britain, specifically FTSE companies—at least one (just one) non-white director by 2021 for the FTSE 100, and at least one non-white director by 2024 for the FTSE 250. The Steering Committee also made recommendations about developing the internal pipeline and asked for enhanced transparency around diversity policies and reporting.

These numbers were stark, and the need and case for change was clear—at least to us. Based on the latest information and nature of response detailed in this document, we do not believe that sufficient progress has been made.