A Bradford-based charity has backed a call by Tory MP Alok Sharma for the Prime Minister to force companies to publish the ethnic composition of their workforces.

QED-UK said that research by Race for Opportunity showed a decline in the representation of black, Asian and ethnic minority executive board members, which fell to just 3.3 per cent in 2013, down from five per cent in 2012.

The percentage of senior managers rose from 5.7 per cent to 6.9 per cent – the result of companies making international appointments rather than from the British workforce, the charity said.

Dr Mohammed Ali, chief executive of QED-UK, said: “We’ve been working with companies for over 20 years to raise the awareness of ethnic minorities in the workforce. More needs to be done to address prejudices in the job market.”