Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We value the diversity of businesses that we support and are committed to doing everything in our power to help them flourish and grow.
Aligned with our ESG strategy, we support major DEI initiatives in the Venture Capital industry and set market standards for our delivery partners. And, to reflect our external ambition internally, we have a progressive DEI strategy focused on creating a workplace where everybody feels included and supported, where diversity is celebrated, and all colleagues can be their true selves at work.
The Race at Work Charter
To reflect our external ambition internally, BBB signed the Race at Work Charter in March 2021. Building on the work of the 2017 McGregor-Smith Review, the Race at Work Charter is a public commitment to improving the experiences of Black, Asian and ethnic-minority employees in the workplace. It sets out five actions for signatories to take:
- Appointing an executive sponsor for race
- Capturing data and publicising progress
- Ensuring zero tolerance of harassment and bullying
- Making equality in the workplace the responsibility of all leaders and managers
- Taking action that supports ethnic-minority career progression
Investing in Women Code
The British Business Bank was a founding signatory of the Investing in Women Code and our commercial subsidiary British Patient Capital was one of the first institutional investors to sign up to the Code.
The Investing in Women Code is a commitment to enhance female entrepreneurship in the UK by improving their access to tools, resources, and finance.
Learn more about how as an organisation, British Business Bank is committed to upholding this code:
Learn more about the Investing In Women Code.
Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts in recruitment
We strive to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to bringing on board, developing, and retaining individuals who can help us meet our strategic goals.
In order to ensure a diverse workplace where talent is celebrated and colleagues have the resources to pursue their own development, we have rolled out a range of policies and programmes.
We are always looking for ways to strengthen these policies and programmes further wherever we can.
Learn more Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
Research
Core to the Bank’s mission is making finance markets work better for all smaller businesses in the UK.
Here are just some of the pieces of research we have done into diversity and representation within finance:
Invest in Women Taskforce
The Invest in Women Taskforce is an industry-led, government-backed initiative with the ultimate goal of making the UK the best place in the world to be a female entrepreneur. Its mission is to create the largest funding pot world-wide for female investors, with capital deployed by female investors into female-powered businesses across the UK.
In support of the aims of the Taskforce, the British Business Bank has committed to supporting the aims of the investing £50m into female-led funds through its existing programmes.
Female-led funds should approach our teams at the Enterprise Capital Funds and British Patient Capital to explore funding, where the criteria for funding from those programmes will remain the same, but we will be actively seeking to support more female led funds with the additional capital available.
Find out more about the Invest in Women Taskforce.
HM Treasury's Women in Finance Charter
In September 2018, the British Business Bank signed the Women in Finance Charter, and committed to publishing a yearly update on the progress we’ve made in fulfilling our commitments under the charter.
| Commitment in September 2018 | Progress at July 2022 |
|---|---|
| 1. That, by 2021, 50% of our senior management – our Executive Committee – would be female (within a 10% tolerance). | In July 2022, 58% of our Executive Committee were female. This demonstrates our continued commitment to gender diversity amongst our senior leadership. We have recently updated our target and definition and we aim to maintain at least 50% female representation at EXCO, including attendees, by 30/09/2025 (within 10% tolerance). |
| 2. That we would set internal targets for gender diversity in our senior management. | In July 2022 we achieved 40% women at Bands 2-4. We have recently updated our internal target to better reflect our EXCO pipeline. We aim to achieve 40% female representation at Bands 3-4 by 30/09/2025. This new target represents a significant stretch, as Band 2 substantive EXCO members will no longer be included. |
| 3. That we would appoint one member of our senior executive team to be responsible and accountable for gender, diversity, and inclusion. | BBB has recently articulated its 10-year vision to deliver its mission. A strategic plan is in place that focuses and organises the Bank around three strategic priorities, which includes unlocking the potential of diverse entrepreneurs underserved by finance markets. This will be underpinned by newly defined strategic objectives and KPIs in the coming months. |
| 4. That we intended to link the pay of the senior executive team to delivery against our internal targets on gender diversity. | Please see the statement above. |
- We continue to make progress against our targets.
- We are developing an overarching DEI strategy and roadmap for the Bank to support the Bank’s 10-year strategy and drive business results. Our ambition is to reflect internally our external support of major DEI initiatives in small business finance markets. Integral to this is our Women in Finance action plan, which is being reviewed and updated with progressive practices to strengthen our leadership and feeder pipelines and demonstrate our ambition to be an inclusive employer of choice.
Race at work charter
Armed Forces Covenant
RNIB Visibly Better Employer
Disability Confident Employer
Committed Member of Inclusive Employers
People Insight Outstanding Workplace 2021