Computacenter to sign pledge with racial equality group

The UK’s largest reseller is taking advice from the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) in a move which could result in the whole industry improving its track record of recruiting staff from ethnic minorities. The Register has learned the CRE and Computacenter are to sign an agreement covering race equality issues. A spokesman for CRE said more information would be forthcoming next month, once the agreement had been signed. The agreement follows on from a four year investigation under the Race Relations Act, which was instigated following complaints from former Computacenter employees. The CRE has operates a programme called the Leadership Challenge, which is aimed at targeting leading businesses in particular industry sectors. The idea of this approach is that it encourages others in that sector to follow best practice procedures. Chris Myant, spokesman for the CRE said: “We are looking to encourage industry sector leaders to become model equal opportunity employers. We would hope that Computacenter can achieve such an outcome.” The investigation into Computacenter began in 1994 after two engineers complained of discrimination. When contacted, Comnputacenter said that the CRE had found no evidence to support a finding of discrimination on grounds of race. The CRE rarely launches a formal investigation. Th Computacenter case was one of only 100 held since the CRE was set up about 20 years ago. ®