top of page
cover5.jpg

Preamble

The Charter: 

 

commits firms to creating and maintaining an environment where Black talent can be identified, developed and promoted for the benefit of individuals and the organisation;

​

commits firms, within that environment, to support the recruitment of Black employees and their development and progression into senior roles in the financial and professional services sectors by focusing on the entire executive pipeline;

​

recognises the diversity of the financial and professional services sectors, and that firms will have different starting points – each firm should therefore implement the right strategy for its organisation; and

​

in order to support the transparency and accountability needed to drive change, requires firms to report publicly on the steps they have taken to create and maintain an environment for the identification, development and promotion of Black talent and on the progress to deliver against their targets.

The Charter
The Pledge

It is recognised that different ethnic groups face different inequities as a result of their different histories and the assumptions and expectations imposed by distinct stereotyping.  Studies have shown that Black professionals face greater disadvantages and inequalities in the workplace through negative stereotyping and bias (whether conscious or unconscious) than other minority ethnic groups, and the global debate on race has shone a spotlight on this fact.

 

The homogenising effect of the “BAME” acronym masks the greater disadvantage and discrimination experienced by Black people by comparison with the other white and non-white ethnic groups included in it. It is therefore essential to focus on this most disadvantaged ethnic group, and that is the purpose of this Charter. 

 

The Charter can, of course, exist as part of each signatory firm’s wider diversity and inclusion programme for all minority groups.  The disciplines of its pledges will complement, and may enhance, any wider programme.

Charter

My organisation pledges to promote Black talent in finance and the professions in the United Kingdom by:

 

(1)  having one member of our senior executive team who is responsible and accountable for Black representation and inclusion, recruitment, career progression and opportunity for promotion in our UK business;

 

(2)  creating and maintaining in our UK business an environment where Black talent can be identified, developed and promoted for the benefit of individuals and the organisation

​

(3)  committing to work in good faith to enhance Black representation and inclusion in our UK business by the steps set out below, recognising (a) that the fundamental objective is to demonstrate and report a measurably enhanced culture of inclusion and progress against clear targets, even if the targets themselves are not yet achieved, and (b) that targets must be challenging if they are to be effective (the “Core Commitment”);

 

(4) requiring external financial and professional service providers engaged by us to demonstrate their commitment to promoting Black representation among their recruits and in management positions;

 

(5) within six months of Charter signature, establishing baseline data for Black [1] representation in the UK business (on the basis of self-identification by employees and subject to applicable data protection legislation), including data showing the percentage of Black employees among new recruits and in management positions in the UK business at the date of Charter signature; and maintaining a record of Black employees and new recruits each year (on the basis of self-identification as such and subject to applicable data protection legislation);

 

(6)  having regard to the Core Commitment above:

 

(i) developing an action plan for improving Black representation and inclusion, recruitment and career progression in the UK business, which identifies the progress the firm aims to achieve across the business;


(ii) setting internal targets to be achieved within five years for Black representation amongst our recruits and in management positions, against our baseline data, 


(iii) in particular, setting internal targets to achieve a significant increase in the number of Black professionals and executives in the most senior grades in the UK business, recognising that 

 

(a)     a reasonable general presumption for ambitious but fair targets to achieve that significant increase is (i) for corporations, a net increase of 3 percentage points within 5 years, and (ii) for partnerships, a net increase of 5 equity partners within 5 years; but 


 (b)     if we wish to set different targets based on a bespoke business model and programme of our firm for career progression and promotion, we shall set those targets in such a way as to demonstrate, by reference to the general presumption and our bespoke business model or programme, our commitment to achieve a significant increase in the number of Black professionals executives in the most senior grades;

 

(7) publishing annually in reports on our website (a) details of the steps taken to create and maintain an environment for the identification, development and promotion of Black talent; and (b) details of progress against our baseline data, action plan and internal targets for the recruitment of Black talent and for Black representation across departments and in management positions; and

​

(8) ensuring that performance appraisals of the responsible senior executive specifically include an assessment of progress on delivery against these internal targets.

 

[1] As defined by the Office for National Statistics, ‘Black’ means African, Caribbean, Black British, white and Black Caribbean and white and Black African heritage.

​

Core Commitment
Ref [1]
Ref [2]
Sign up

Sign up

contact
Back to Top

BACK TO TOP

bottom of page