Less than a fifth (17.8%) of CEOs have an ethnicity other than “White British, Irish and other”. To take into account the different numbers of ethnic minorities living in the country, we compared the total number of people over 16 years old in each group with the number of business owners. By this measure, most of these groups - including those from mixed ethnic backgrounds - are better represented at CEO level than the white British majority. But the picture becomes more complicated when we look at the more detailed ethnic group applied in the census. For example, while white Irish people are almost twice as likely as average to become CEOs, white people who identify as “gypsies or Irish travelers” are three times less likely. Similarly, Chinese people are overrepresented at the CEO level, while those who identify as Bangladeshi or Pakistani are among the least represented. Such findings support a review of overall ethnic diversity targets – for example “increasing the number of BAME leaders”. Critics say reliance on such blanket goals can mask persistent underrepresentation of people from specific disadvantaged groups. Only 5.4% of CEOs nationwide are ethnic minority women. While the gender gap at this level is evident across all ethnic groups, women are significantly overrepresented in some groups. For example, more than a third (37.9%) of black business leaders are women. Almost the same ratio applies in the “mixed or multi-ethnic” category. Radha Vyas is the co-founder and CEO of adventure travel company Flash Pack. She remembers that there was “a definite glass ceiling for women of colour when I started my career. As an Asian woman, I knew early on that no one was going to give me any power. If I wanted it, I’d need to go out there and grab it.”