Increasing Diversity In The Supply Chain

The Commission for Racial Equality has launched a new guide aimed at encouraging large organisations to use more ethnic minority suppliers. The guide explains what supplier diversity is about, why it is useful, and sets out 11 easy steps on how to set up a supplier diversity programme.

Supplier diversity programmes enable all businesses to fairly compete to become contractors for larger businesses. Focusing on ethnic minority businesses, the guide explains how larger organisations can make sure they are taking full advantage of diversity in suppliers of goods and services.

According to Alan Christie, Director of Private Sector Policy at the CRE, "These programmes encourage competition by allowing more suppliers to compete for contracts. This will lead to a better choice of suppliers and help organisations to meet their corporate social responsibilities."

By embracing supplier diversity, organisations will be in a much better position to win large public sector contracts. Public authorities have a duty to promote race relations under the Race Relations Act 1976. They will look to make sure that their suppliers also meet the requirements under the duty. Any private or voluntary organisation which is tendering for a public contract, and which has a supplier diversity programme, will have a competitive edge.

Supplier Diversity: A guide for purchasing organisations, and the executive summary of the leaflet, can be downloaded free from the CRE website at www.cre.gov.uk/supplierdiversity. For further information contact Shirani Gunawardena at sgunawardena@cre.gov.uk.