UK retail leadership is now more diverse than ever, but it’s not so strong on inclusion as far as wider workforces are concerned, according to a new report.

The percentage of female board-level leaders has risen to 42.3% this year, from 32.6% in 2021, and the percentage of ethnic minority leaders on boards has nearly tripled to 12% from 4.5% over the same period, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and The MBS Group.

‘Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) in UK Retail’ looked at diversity of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, social mobility, and age, aiming to “drive change in the industry by tracking progress made since the report first launched in 2021”.

However, the gain in diversity made over the period “is not ubiquitous across the industry”, showing 35% of retailers still have an all-white board, over half have no ethnic diversity on their executive committees and areas such as social mobility and disability need much greater focus, the reports shows. 

Although D&I sits high on many consumer/shareholder agendas, it’s “not being sufficiently prioritised by some investors or owners,” we’re told.

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; and 67% of businesses could identify at least one senior leader from the LGBTQ+ community, compared with 27% in 2021.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the BRC, 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.”