The BBC’s Inside Out London programme, screened yesterday, featured an experiment in which CVs were sent from two candidates, ‘Adam’ and ‘Mohamed’, who had identical skills and experience, in response to 100 vacancies for advertising sales business managers in London. Adam landed 12 interviews, while Mohamed was offered just four.

Speaking to Recruiter about the programme’s experiment, Wyn Nathan Davis, managing director at The Sales Experts, said this issue comes up very rarely as most sales organisations just want someone that can sell and don’t care where they come from.

But he adds companies that do favour ‘Adams’ over ‘Mohameds’ may be using the name as an indicator of accent, with companies favouring a British accent as there is a perception such accents indicate intelligence and credibility.

“What we usually get is they want somebody who is raised in England with a good British accent. That’s the way the request will come through. They never say we don’t want Muslims, we don’t want people of colour – we want a white person.

“Definitely accent plays a part. In telephone selling some people will ask for someone with an Irish accent.”

However, Davis adds he has encountered two clients that have specifically asked for Caucasian candidates.

“They were both people of colour who requested that. They were black owners of businesses who felt that having a white face to the business would be beneficial to their business. That’s the only time that that has come up.”

Meanwhile Brian Hawkin, director at h2 Recruit, told Recruiter such organisations, particularly small to medium-sized firms, may be seeking people that will fit in with their company culture.

“You always see examples of it because as an agency we deal with some of these small to medium-sized businesses when we are recruiting for sales people. Maybe cultural fit and personality is more important than at a larger organisation.

“We do always see examples of it but I wouldn’t say I’ve spotted any trends of it. It’s just something that happens.”