One of the most characteristic things about British boardrooms is that they are full of white faces.

The lack of diversity has been most recently highlighted in the Business in the Community's Race for Opportunity survey, its sixth annual report on race in the workplace.

The survey is not definitive but it showed that in 104 organisations taking part in a racial diversity programme - their participation providing some evidence of their commitment to the goal of diversity - only 2.6 per cent of the most senior executive positions were held by ethnic minorities.

This had fallen from 3.4 per cent the previous year and was despite the fact minorities represent nearly seven per cent of the working age population.

The figures below boardroom level are more encouraging in that the proportion of senior managers from an ethnic minority had risen from 3.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent.

However, this is still far from impressive, and the same disappointing picture can be seen in the low proportion of women in senior management positions.

The problem is not confined to the UK, of course.

In the US, for instance, which may be perceived as more enlightened, of the chief executives of the 500 largest companies, fewer than two per cent are African-Americans, an ethnic group that makes up more than 13 per cent of the population.

Ensuring diversity is not simply a question of political correctness.

It is also about business success.

For instance, ethnic minorities in the UK have an estimated annual disposable income of £32bn and, as Allan Leighton, chairman of Royal Mail, pointed out at the launch of the report, companies that respond to the needs of minorities will see the benefit in the bottom line.

This can be demonstrated by Lloyds TSB, which topped the "race in the workplace" benchmark.

It has focused on ethnic communities and devised new financial products, such as mortgages and bank accounts which comply with Sharia law.

The ability of companies to respond will be enhanced by ensuring representation in senior management positions and in the boardroom.

Companies may also find that they benefit from greater entrepreneurial acumen.

Black Africans, for instance, are three times as likely to start a business as white Britons.

In other words, there is a business case for diversity.

Diversity is not just about ethnicity and gender - it includes other characteristics such as social class, educational background and personality - but, clearly, a lot more progress needs to be made before we can point to diversity rather than conformity in the management of British business.