FTSE 100 companies face risks of hindering post-Brexit trade deals, due to their poor representation of diversity. A new study has found that their boardrooms are missing employees of BAME backgrounds.

As the government works in securing trade deals with non-EU countries, they could face a difficult time. This lies in new figures showing that the UK’s biggest companies have a high lack of diverse employees. Particularly in management positions.

The findings arose from a study by Green Park. It explored the senior-level positions of FTSE 100 companies. Afterwards, the executive search company found that they appear less ethnically diverse than in 2014.

While the businesses have employed BAME candidates to high roles, there still remains a lack of diversity in their management. It also found a drop in diversity within the technology sector. This possibly suggests that UK candidates are heading to the US.

With potential employees traveling overseas, and non-diverse boardrooms in FTSE 100 companies, this could spell bad news for post-Brexit trade deals. A staggering lack of diverse figures, especially those from African and Asian backgrounds, would potentially make the UK look unattractive.

For example, Green Park found company Rolls-Royce as one of the least diverse overall in the FTSE 100 companies. Ranked 90th, it failed in showing a good representation of female and BAME employees.

Therefore, Green Park has urged these top companies to place diversity as a key focus for their boardrooms. Chief executive, Raj Tulsaini explained:

“In light of the UK’s desire to increase trade with non-EU countries, the ongoing inability of our leading companies to attract and retain leaders from east Asian and African backgrounds should be a matter for serious concern.

“The UK’s aspiration to be outward looking and open to business with the non-European world is hardly enhanced by the continued lack of challenge in the boards of our leading companies, still statistically and behaviourally dominated by men of similar cultural and educational backgrounds.”

In 2016, a government-backed review urged these businesses to end all-white boardrooms by 2021. But with this new report, it seems this goal may not come to fruition.

However, one positive aspect of the report lied in outside of management. Green Park found a 5% increase with companies employing BAME candidates. Raj Tulsaini said:

“It is a positive trend that in the pipeline we are doing better around race, but at the top of the pyramid, we have gone backwards slightly.” Now they hope that this trend will follow into boardrooms, as companies act on the results.

In the case of Rolls-Royce, they have released a statement, revealing they will work on improving their diversity. They said:

“We are well aware of the need to attract talent from more diverse backgrounds, not only into our business, but into the wider engineering and technology industry. It is particularly challenging to attract BAME [black, Asian and minority ethnic] engineers where numbers across the UK are currently low.”

Post-Brexit trade deals have become increasingly important for the country, for it to survive and prosper. Should FTSE 100 companies take on these warnings, they will hopefully create a more inclusive space in their management.

Not only will it provide benefits for trade deals, but their own companies too.