Due to the nature of our businesses, we have always been mindful of our social responsibility to our communities and employees. We believe our purpose and values are supported and espoused through the support we deliver to our communities and to the inclusive and open environment that we strive to create for our employees.
Priority 1:
Benefiting our communities
Our partnership with Campaign Against Living Miserably (‘CALM’), now in its third year, is stronger than ever and continues to drive meaningful change. We extended the partnership by a further two years and increased our overall donation target to £500,000. To date, colleagues across the business have helped donate over £404,250 to CALM – funding an incredible 33,125 life-saving calls. Engagement has remained exceptional, with 25 colleagues taking on and conquering the Balkans 3 Peaks Challenge, raising more than £70,000 in our biggest independent fundraising achievement to date.
Priority 2:
Looking after our employees
Learning and development opportunities continue across the Group with both functional expertise building sessions and dedicated support to grow managerial, inclusive leadership and “corporate governance” skills. In addition, we are incredibly proud of the Female Leadership Forum, which, having now completed its second year, continues to receive high praise, with strong attendance and engagement across all sessions.
Priority 3:
Being a fair and socially inclusive employer
Our strategic aim is that inclusion is alive in our day-to-day experience so that we are attracting and retaining the best talent to the group. That’s why Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (‘DEIB’) initiatives have become part of our DNA, and form part of our wider talent attraction and retention strategy. In 2025, we looked beyond continuing to support our existing colleagues to consolidating the link between our DEIB initiatives and our employer brand, with a particular focus on readiness to attract next gen AI savvy talent.