Business in the Community has indentified what it claims is a "colour bar" to management jobs in the UK, with the number of ethnic minority staff in management positions lagging behind growth in the ethnic minority population.

Research carried out by its Race for Opportunity campaign shows that 6.8% of ethnic minority staff were in management positions in 2007.

With more than one in ten British people hailing from an ethnic minority group, this leaves a gap of 3.5 percentage points.

The research shows that if current trends continue, this gap could widen to four percentage points by 2015, with ethnic minorities accounting for 15.2% of the population and 11.2% in management jobs.

Sandra Kerr, national campaign director at Race for Opportunity, said: "The disappointing implication is that there may still be a colour bar to management jobs in the UK 33 years after the passing of the landmark Race Relations Act of 1976."

Meanwhile, a report by executive job website Experteer shows that the gender pay gap is wider at management level, standing at 19% compared to the average of 17.1%.