Ocado has pushed back its ethnic minority inclusion deadlines, despite giving reassurances that it remains committed to its Diversity Equality and Inclusion (DEI) plans.

The technology company said it has pushed back its target of filling 10% of senior management roles with people from ethnic minorities to 2030, from its prior goal of 2027, according to the Telegraph.

The London-listed group, which co-owns online supermarket Ocado Retail with M&S, said the setback was due to the “strong rate of retention among senior managers”, making it unlikely to hit the 10% milestone.

Currently, Ocado has reported that 5.6% of its senior management personnel come from ethnic minorities, an increase from 4.5% the year prior.

A spokesperson told the title: “It does not reflect any change in our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and we are making good progress across our other goals in these areas which extend across the business and our pipeline of talent.

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“We strongly believe that diversity is a key driver of innovation and these targets are important for us to maintain our position as one of the UK’s most innovative technology businesses.”

The company’s decision comes amid a flurry of US businesses watering down their DEI measures following President Trump’s executive order.

Last week, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cautioned companies that their DEI policies may be illegal, leading to employers scaling back on diversity programmes, including Meta, Amazon and Walmart. 

Some UK business have followed suit. GSK and BT, for example, have both scrapped DEI measures from executive bonuses.

In February, Ocado announced it had seen its losses narrow, driven by more shoppers turning to Ocado.com for their grocery orders.

In the 52 weeks ending 1 December 2024, it reported a pre-tax loss of £374.5m, down from £393.3m in 2023.