Ryan FowlerRetail leadership is more diverse than ever, according to a new report by the British Retail Consortium and The MBS Group. The “Diversity and Inclusion in UK Retail” report reveals significant gains in female and ethnic minority representation at the board level. Female board-level leaders increased from 32.6% in 2021 to 42.3% in 2024, and ethnic minority leaders on boards nearly tripled from 4.5% to 12% over the same period.
The report, published today, provides a comprehensive overview of the retail diversity and inclusion (D&I) landscape in 2024. It highlights diversity in gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, social mobility, and age. The aim is to drive industry change by tracking progress since the report’s first launch in 2021 and identifying areas needing improvement to ensure all individuals can progress and prosper.
While there has been significant progress, the report shows that diversity is not uniform across the industry. About 35% of retailers still have all-white boards, and over half lack ethnic diversity on their executive committees. Areas such as social mobility and disability require greater focus. Although D&I is high on many shareholder agendas, it is not being sufficiently prioritised by some investors or owners.
Inclusion remains a major challenge. The report includes analysis of employee sentiment regarding inclusion, revealing generally low levels of recognition and overall happiness. Employees who chose “other” or “prefer not to say” to describe their sexual orientation and those of Black/African/Caribbean backgrounds reported the lowest levels of feeling included in the workplace.
There is a risk that economic pressures might cause some businesses to deprioritize D&I. Retailers must continue to drive forward effective initiatives to improve diversity and connect D&I to other people initiatives to build better workplace cultures. This will enhance employee engagement, productivity, and reduce turnover and absences, ultimately leading to more successful businesses.
Key statistics from the report include:
98% of retailers have a coordinated D&I strategy.
67% of businesses now include social mobility in their D&I strategies, up from 20% in 2021.
67% of businesses can identify at least one senior leader from the LGBTQ+ community, compared to 27% in 2021.
Only 11% of respondents could identify a disabled role model in their business.
In 2021, the BRC launched its D&I Charter, which now has over 90 signatories committed to improving D&I through six focus areas: CEO oversight, recruitment, progression, reporting, inclusivity, and responsibility. This Charter helps retailers challenge their culture and biases, learn from each other, and embed enhanced D&I into their business.
Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “I am proud to see the strides retailers have made in just three short years to improve diversity – especially at a time when D&I could easily have been relegated to the sidelines in the face of a turbulent economic backdrop. It is clear that initiatives, such as our D&I Charter, are vitally important in helping retailers learn from each other and drive forward change. But, inclusion is the nut the industry still needs to crack. The progress made on diversity will only be meaningful and effective when it happens in tandem with a workforce where every employee feels happy and included. There needs to be greater focus on initiatives to change workplace culture to ensure we see this shift on inclusion. Only then will we complete our mission in creating a truly diverse and inclusive industry.”
Elliott Goldstein, managing partner at The MBS Group, said: “For the fourth year, MBS is proud to have partnered with the BRC to hold a mirror up to the retail industry. Promisingly, we’ve seen real progress since our research began in 2021 – more than half of all direct reports into the executive committee in retail today are women. However, to ensure lasting change, retailers must continue to drive forward initiatives to ensure diversity across all characteristics and commit to building work environments that are truly inclusive – particularly with the backdrop of today’s challenging trading environment.”
