In a benchmarking exercise that assessed the company’s gender and race diversity practices, Enterprise Rent-A-Car has been named as a “gold” category employer by business charity Business in the Community.

This award places the company amongst the 10 most diverse businesses in the UK, among other leading companies including Ernst & Young, Nationwide Building Society, BT plc and National Grid.

Enterprise was assessed against 25 separate employment and leadership criteria, including recruitment, workplace policies and career progression as well as supplier diversity and diversity in customer relationships.

Mike Nigro, UK managing director for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, said: “As a community based car hire company with a network of 360 neighbourhood and airport branches, diversity makes a lot of sense for our business.   Our commitment is to represent the communities we serve whilst employing the best talent we possibly can.  This strategy has helped us grow our business since we arrived in the UK in 1994.

“In fact, we’re one of the many businesses who have shown that diversity is a strategy for business success. It means we have access to the best talent and ensures that we can reflect and be a part of every community that we serve.

“As we recruit mainly at the entry level grades and only promote senior people from within, we continue to look at how new diversity practices can help us ensure that we get the right mix of people at every level of our business.”

Sandra Kerr OBE, director of Race for Opportunity, the race campaign from Business in the Community, said: “Enterprise is the first car hire business to make it into our top 10 list of diverse businesses. For us, its performance sends a really important message to other service and retail businesses that diversity can be a powerful strategy for success. Over the years that Enterprise has been a member of BITC we’ve watched it be innovative and determined in introducing measures that ensure a truly diverse workforce. The people at Enterprise understand the benefits that this will bring, both to the business and the individuals who form part of it.”