Leading figures from some of Britain's biggest employers have paid tribute to the role of a Bradford charity for its work in boosting employment prospects in the Asian community.

JobCentre Plus chief executive David Anderson and Environment Agency chairman Sir John Harman led the praise for Quest for Economic Development (QED) at its 14th annual review.

The Bradford charity - set up in the early 1990s to help combat the growing problem of economic underachievement in the city's South Asian community - has played a leading role in helping some of the UK's biggest firms and organisations develop a diverse workforce.

At the review at Bradford's Hanover International Hotel, the Leader of the House of Lords, Baroness Amos, highlighted again the continued relative economic underachievement of Britain's Asian community.

The former head of the Equal Opportunities Commission, who spoke at QED's first annual review 14 years ago, said the charity was a leading light in making "key connections" between communities and had made a "huge difference" in developing key partnerships.

Mr Anderson, the former chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society, said he was delighted to return to Bradford to praise the work of QED.

He said that, although the UK boasted one of the world's most successful labour markets, its record on ethnic minority employment was "significantly worse", with the rate of employment 16 per cent below the national average.

"At JobCentre Plus, we find that ethnic minority customers apply for twice as many jobs as white people before they find work," he said.

"There is a clear message of the problem that we need to address here in Bradford."

Mr Anderson said the district would soon benefit from a raft of new initiatives based on programmes proved to have worked in other cities.

"I believe that we are moving in the right direction, but the rate of change is not fast enough," he said. "There is a lot of determination and activity and, I am sure, with the help of organisations like QED, we can make progress on what has been a pretty intractable problem."

Sir John Harman praised the support QED had given the Environment Agency in its efforts to employ a more diverse workforce and help increase awareness among Asian businesses of the environmental issues.

Tiku Patel, managing director of Barclays' premier banking division, told delegates at the review of the growing importance of Britain's Asian business community and put the 'business case' forward for corporate social responsibility.

Mohammed Ali, QED chief executive, said it had been another successful year for the West Bowling-based charity, which unveiled its new logo.

He pointed to the success of QED's New Arrival Support Centre in Manningham Lane which helped 260 newcomers to the UK find work in its first 12 months, plus a successful employment Mela which is to become an annual event.

He also congratulated Adeeba Malik, QED deputy chief executive, who was recently awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.