Ethnicity
Our aim is to increase the ethnic diversity of our workforce and unlock the potential of our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues.
We've set a goal to increase representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues to 13% at senior management levels.
We also aim to increase Black representation in senior roles to at least 3% by 2025.
In an increasingly multicultural society, we can only truly become best bank for customers if our workforce reflects the ethnic diversity of the UK population.
In July 2020 we launched our Race Action Plan to drive cultural change, recruitment and progression across the Group.
Race Action plan: Our stand against racism
While we’ve worked hard over the years to create a more inclusive organisation, the launch of the Race Action Plan in July 2020 was a real turning point in our journey.
"Our Race Action plan constitutes the most committed and active action I have witnessed"
Samantha Owo, our Race Action Plan Lead, discusses both progress to date and plans for the future.
Our REACH network
Our REACH network (Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage) connects, supports and develops colleagues from a range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, with membership open to all colleagues. It currently has over 4,000 members and 700 advocates.
The network are passionate about supporting communities. One way in which this is achieved is through our RISE programme, which inspires students from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds to explore opportunities in banking.
In 2018, REACH was named Best Network at the inaugural Investing in Ethnicity Award.
Excelling Black talent
As part of our Race Action Plan, we’re committed to nurturing our talented Black colleagues by creating specific talent programmes, so that we can help break the ceiling for senior Black role models.
We spoke with Kemi and Kwaku, who’ve recently completed the programme, to find out what they’ve learnt.
Race at Work Charter
In 2018, we signed the UK Government’s Race at Work Charter and have recently renewed our commitment to this. We currently meet and exceed its principal requirements.
We continue to work to increase the ethnic diversity of our workforce and unlock the potential of our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues.
Ethnicity Pay Gap Report
Following the launch of our Race Action Plan in July 2020, we committed to voluntarily publishing our Ethnicity Pay Gap Report.
We’re publishing our data because it is the right thing to do and we’ll continue to share this annually so we can track our progress and continue to take action to narrow the gaps that exist.
While our data tells us that on a mean average basis, none of our Black, Asian or Ethnic Minority colleagues are paid less at any individual grade, our Ethnicity Pay Gap Report reveals that there is a clear difference in the representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic colleagues within senior management levels in our business, and that this difference is at its widest amongst Black colleagues specifically.
Other pages you might be interested in
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As one of Britain’s largest financial institutions, we have an important part to play in supporting Black entrepreneurs and Black-led businesses.
Inclusion and diversity
We strive to create a fully inclusive environment for all our colleagues, customers and communities, one that is truly representative of modern-day Britain.
Now recruiting: tech and transformation
We have 26 million customers right across the UK, with most already using our digital services. Now we want to bring even bigger solutions to even more people. You’ll help us do just that.