‘Retailers far more focused on diversity and inclusion than ever before’

Retailers are far more focused and active on diversity and inclusion (D&I) than ever before, a recent report has shown, adding that many have expanded these plans in order to focus on areas such as social mobility and disability as well.

According to ‘Diversity and Inclusion in UK Retail’ by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and The MBS Group, 93 per cent of retailers have implemented a strategy to improve diversity and inclusion across their business, and many have expanded these plans in order to focus on areas such as social mobility and disability.

analyses the retail D&I landscape in 2023 – it looks at gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, social mobility, and age. It aims to drive change in the industry by tracking progress made so far, and identifying what more needs to be done to ensure all individuals have equal opportunity to prosper.

The report shows there is still a “long road ahead” with 66 per cent of retailers having no specific targets in place to track progress on D&I. Almost 30 per cent of boardrooms remain all white, and gender diversity on leadership teams is still below the FTSE 350 benchmark of 40 per cent. The industry also lacks disabled role models, with only 17 per cent of retailers able to identify one disabled leader in their organisation.

The report further shows ethnic diversity Board representation has improved by 5 percentage points to 10 per cent since 2021 but 30 per cent of retail Boards remain all-white while gender diversity Board representation has also improved by over 5 percentage points since 2021 to 37.8 per cent.

While 80 per cent of retailers are focusing on disability in their D&I strategies compared to 50 per cent in 2021, more individuals are comfortable to identify as trans, non-binary and gender fluid in the workplace, states the report published today (14).

65 per cent of businesses now include social mobility in their D&I strategies while a good majority (64 per cent) of businesses could identify at least one senior leader from the LGBTQ+ community, compared with just 47 per cent in 2022 and 27 per cent in 2021.

Reacting to the report’s findings, Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said that the progress we’ve made so far hasn’t sufficiently shifted the dial though she is encouraged to see so many retailers gearing up their D&I activity.

“I know this will take time, but equally, we must not rest on our laurels. While the will is there, until every individual – no matter their background – feels they can reach their true potential in the workplace, we are failing. It’s time to double down on assessing the impact of activities. We need to continually assess if what we’re doing is working, and if it’s not, what else can be done. Nonetheless, I am confident that we can deliver the change we aspire for, and I am excited to see the industry rise to the challenge,” Dickinson said.