Diversity blast for tech firms

Britain’s booming tech industry has been slammed over a “shocking” lack of female, black or Asian bosses at the helm.

A damning report reveals just 12.6% of board members in the sector’s 500 biggest firms are women, less than half the 30% in the FTSE 100.

Firms were also branded “elitist”, with a third of the companies’ board members having gone to Oxford or Cambridge universities.

The study, from an organisation called Inclusive Boards, also found only 8.5% of “senior leaders” in the 500 companies are from a BAME (Black Asian Minority Ethnic) background.

Samuel Kasumu, director of Inclusive Boards, said: “The lack of diversity in the UK’s fastest growing sector is shocking.

“Our economy is increasingly reliant on technology, and it is alarming to see that so many sections of society are being left behind.”