The D&I Charter is one of the BRC’s change programmes. Set up in 2021 by the HR Community, the charter it focuses on oversight, recruitment, progression, reporting, inclusivity and responsibility. 92 companies have already joined as they challenge culture and biases, embedding D&I into every aspect of their business.

The Charter was launched alongside the first Diversity and Inclusion in UK Retail report, and as a response to the urgent need for the retail industry to move the dial when it comes to D&I.

In June 2024, the BRC and The MBS Group published the 4^th annual ‘Diversity and Inclusion in UK Retail’ report, providing unique insight into the current state of D&I in the UK retail industry. Based on over 200 interviews with Chairs, CEOs and HRDs, on hard data provided by retailers involved in the D&I Charter change program and, to bring back the employee voice, for the second year, the report also covers the Employee Inclusion Index, an assessment of inclusion developed using the Retail Trust’s Better You tool. The research builds on the progress of the 2023, 2022 and 2021 reports and learnings in the D&I Charter activities.

Positively, there were 53 responses to the BRC Survey, comprising a workforce of more than 1 million (over a third of the total retail workforce in the UK). Not only were there additional member responses compared to last year, the breadth and coverage of the industry response was enhanced, increasing the robustness of the results. The number of retailers committed to the BRC D&I Charter also continues to grow, indicating that D&I remains a priority.

Last year's report found that strategies were not having enough impact on diversity outcomes, and recommended that businesses assessed what worked, and ditched what did not. Our latest report shows that many on these recommendations, streamlining initiatives, prioritising quality over quantity – and this has quickly bore fruit.

The percentage of women at Board-level has gone from 32.6% in 2021 to 42.3%, and over half of direct reports are women. The percentage of ethnic minority leaders has risen from 4.5% to 12% over the same period, and 98% of retailers now have a D&I strategy in place.

Other key statistics of the report include:  

• 98% of retailers have a co-ordinated D&I strategy in place 
• 67% of businesses now include social mobility in their D&I strategies, compared to just 20% in 2021 
• 67% of businesses could identify at least one senior leader from the LGBTQ+ community, compared with 27% in 2021 
• There is a lack of disabled role models – only 11%  of respondents could identify a disabled role model in their business  

But, while the numbers have shifted as senior leadership teams across the industry have become more diverse, this has not necessarily translated into inclusive workplaces. In the “Employee Inclusion Index”, feelings of inclusion are low and employees who chose “other” or “prefer not to say” to describe their sexual orientation, and those who are Black/African/Caribbean reported the lowest levels of feeling included in the workplace.

Retailers must continue to drive forward the initiatives that have been working to boost diversity, but must also now look to make changes to their workplace cultures to ensure the entire workforce feels included. Without both sides of the D and the I coin, our mission is not complete.

The BRC is supporting retailers on this journey via the D&I Charter which focus on six areas – CEO oversight, recruitment, progression, reporting, inclusivity, and responsibility. The Charter helps retailers to challenge their culture and biases holistically, learn from each other and to embed enhanced D&I into their business. 

Signatories have access to a strong program of regular workshops and in-person events delivered in partnership with the RPC LLP, to help signatories to progress with their D&I strategies. Each of these workshops relate to the charter pledges and/or specific emerging challenges:

Charter pledges:

1. Our CEO will be accountable for Diversity and Inclusion in our business and will appoint an Executive with ownership for D&I
2. We will ensure there is no bias in the recruitment process and will Undertake a transparent process of audit
3. We will take positive action that supports open career opportunity and progression and will undertake a transparent process of audit
4. We commit to contributing data on our diversity in the workplace which will feed in to the Diversity and Inclusion in UK Retail report
5. We commit to create a respectful, inclusive work environment within which every employee has the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the company’s vision and values
6. We believe supporting equity in the workplace is the responsibility of all line managers

Members of all sizes and in any stages of their D&I journey are invited to join – the idea is that we build a community to learn, share and progress together. The charter is a free benefit for BRC members.

Contact Luiza to get involved.

SUPPORTING RETAILERS