50 retailers pledge to improve diversity and inclusion with new charter

More than 50 retailers including Aldi, Boots, John Lewis, Ocado, Superdry and WHSmith have signed the charter, pledging to take action to drive greater diversity and inclusivity within their businesses.

Signatories have made six key promises and will have to track their progress in creating better working environments.

The six pledges are:

• Appoint diversity and inclusion executives
• Improve recruitment practices to remove bias
• Support career opportunity and progression for all
• Collect and contribute data on diversity
• Create a respectful and inclusive work environment
• Ensure all line managers are responsible for supporting equity in the workplace

The BRC has also released a report in collaboration with PwC and the MBS Group in which over 200 retailers’ senior leadership teams were analysed to find the current state of diversity in retail – including gender, race and ethnicity, LGBTQ+, disability, social mobility and age. 

Key findings of the report include that 32.6% of boards, 32.0% of executive boards and 37.5% of direct reports to boards are women, but that more than one in five retailers have no women at all on their boards.

The report also found 4.5% of boards, 5.8% of executive committees and 6.0% of direct reports to boards are from an underrepresented background, compared to 12.5% of the UK population.

Diversity and inclusion is high up on retailers priorities, with 84% of retailers saying D&I is a priority, but less than half of retail employees agree D&I is sufficiently high up their employers’ agenda.

While the BRC’s charter has brought retailers together to pledge to work on diversity and inclusion, Retail Week’s Be Inspired programme can help bring those pledges to life and achieve change in their businesses.

Be Inspired’s central mission to give everyone – regardless of age, background, gender, race, sexual orientation or ability – the tools, inspiration, knowledge and connections needed to fulfil their career aspirations.  

Be Inspired drives inclusivity and unlocks ambition through practical learning-and-development-focused content across Retail-Week.com, our free to attend virtual workshops, mentoring events, steering groups and annual conference.  

Running since 2016, the programme gives people the practical skills they need to progress their careers, foster the right culture for a more balanced workforce, connect them with the leaders of today and help build the pipeline of the leaders of tomorrow.