HR Magazine - BITC announces winners of Race for Opportunity awards

The winners of the Business in the Community (BITC) Race for Opportunity awards were announced last night in a ceremony at the Park Lane Hilton in London.

The awards recognise employers that demonstrate tangible efforts to improve the mobility of their Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) workforce.

Big winners on the night included National Grid, who took home the Developing Talent – Attraction Award, and EY, who collected the Employee Network Award.

Race for Opportunity chair and Google director of customer solutions and innovation Adrian Joseph praised all the companies nominated for "demonstrating that it is good business sense for organisations to reflect the clients, customers and communities they serve".

Sandra Kerr, Race for Opportunity director at BITC, called the winning employers' commitment to raising the bar for BAME employment "hugely uplifting".

"Their work shows the positive impact of collaboration within and across organisations in attracting, retaining and progressing BAME talent, and I hope other employers will learn from their example,” she said.

Full list of winners

Champion Award

Winner: Charles Thompson, founder of PEN (Positively Ethnic Network) of BP

Highly commended: Peter Lewis, CEO of Crown Prosecution Service

Developing Talent Award – Attraction

Winner: National Grid

Highly commended: African & Caribbean Diversity

Developing Talent Award – Progression

Winner: HM Revenue & Customs

Highly commended: EY

Employee Network Award

Winner: EY