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
Highly commended: Citi
Future Workforce Award – Large Organisation and Small Organisation
Large Organisation – winner: Civil Service
Large Organisation – highly commended: Barclays
Small Organisation - winner: Circle Housing Group
Recruiting Diverse Talent Award
Winner: Barclays and SEO London
Highly commended: Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Transparency, Monitoring and Action Award
Winner: University of Manchester
Highly commended: Runnymede Trust