Professional services firm EY, telecommunications and media business Sky, utilities provider UK Power Networks (pictured) and banking organisation HSBC are among the organisations recognised on The inclusive top 50 UK employers 2018-2019 list, compiled by national diversity network Inclusive Companies.
The list is a definitive ranking of UK employers that promote inclusion and diversity within their organisations across age, disability, gender, sexuality, race, faith and religion.
Focusing on diverse representation at management, senior, executive and board level, as well as on inclusive workplace cultures, organisations that feature have to provide sufficient evidence of their inclusivity practices in areas such as recruitment and training. The top 50 organisations are then decided by a panel of judges from Inclusive Companies.
The list, which is designed to celebrate employers and reinforce their commitment to attracting and retaining a diverse workforce, was announced at an awards ceremony on Thursday 15 November 2018, held at The Midland Hotel in Manchester.
Touchstone ranked first in 2018-2019’s list, followed by the West Midlands Fire Service in second place and Sky in third. Other organisations featured in the list include car dealership Auto Trader UK, facilities management organisation Mitie, the House of Lords, Northumbria Police and law firm Blake Morgan.
The top 10 organisations featured on The Inclusive Top 50 UK Employers 2018-2019 list are:
- Touchstone
- West Midlands Fire Service
- Sky
- EY
- Mott MacDonald
- Community Links
- University Hospitals of Morecombe Bay NHS Trust
- West Yorkshire Police
- Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust
- Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service
Andrew Pace, HR director at UK Power Networks, which ranked at number 16 on the final list, said: “Diversity and inclusiveness is one of our key values as [an organisation], so we are very proud to receive this national recognition. Encouraging inclusiveness starts from the first stage of recruitment where we strive to build teams from different backgrounds, experience and skill sets.
“We work on the basis that the future of our business rests with the people we employ. An engaged and diverse workforce delivers better business performance, so we strive to provide the best benefits, training and opportunities to develop. For example, we’ve spent £20 million on training including supported studies over the past two years, putting us in [the] top 12% of UK employers for training spend, and recently added electric cars to our company car list to support employees who want to lead clean, green lifestyles.”