One of our three strategic priorities is to break down barriers in small business finance markets to enable entrepreneurs and business owners to access the finance they need to reach their full potential. In striving to achieve this goal, it is paramount that diverse perspectives are also being well represented within our own business. We can only achieve our mission if we can bring out the best in our people, drawing on their breadth of thinking and different lived experiences to best serve our diverse customer base. We have made some good progress this year, particularly in terms of female representation at our Executive Committee, however there is much more for us to do.
This report sets out the Bank’s 2021 gender pay gap data. It explains the key factors behind the numbers, and highlights some of the initiatives we are undertaking to promote diversity and inclusion across the Bank. We discuss further what we are doing to embed diversity and inclusion into the fabric of the British Business Bank, and in particular we make reference to ‘Stronger Together’, our inclusion employee resource group.
Our 2021 median gender pay gap is 16.8%, an improvement of 1.5 percentage points on 2020, and our mean gender pay gap shows a continually improving trend since 2018. Our median bonus gap has fallen significantly compared to last year. We are a signatory of the Women in Finance Charter and are proud to say that this year we achieved our headline target of ensuring that 50% of our Executive Committee is female. We continue to work towards achieving the other goals we have set for greater female representation at senior levels within the Bank.
We will always seek to recruit and retain the best talent regardless of social background, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age or location. We are working hard to create a culture of belonging where our colleagues feel engaged and are supported in our workplace. Being an inclusive employer of a diverse workforce, and nurturing the talent in our business, is at the centre of our people strategy and policies.
Our employee value proposition incorporates flexibility and accountability in equal measure, we benchmark, measure and monitor our processes and progress:
We test our annual pay progression and promotions for any differences between men and women.
We test and calibrate our yearly talent and performance management processes for representation against the wider organisational population
We collect data to analyse our attraction and recruitment processes to ensure they are fair and free from bias
I believe diversity is a critical success factor in high performing teams, so driving better business outcomes. I therefore remain fully committed to promoting diversity in all its forms at the British Business Bank.
Catherine Lewis La Torre,
CEO, British Business Bank