"The pace of change must accelerate": WRA25 sponsors on EDI and pushing for change

Progress has been made in opening conversations around equity, diversity and inclusion. We’re seeing more women in senior leadership roles, greater awareness of intersectionality, and tangible improvements in recruitment practices. Mental health and wellbeing are now rightly recognised as part of an inclusive culture, and initiatives like mentoring schemes are helping more diverse talent come through the pipeline. We’re also seeing stronger collaboration across the industry, with organisations sharing data, best practice and lived experiences to accelerate change.

However, the pace isn’t consistent. While gender representation has shown some improvement, other areas such as racial equity, disability inclusion and socioeconomic diversity have not advanced at the same pace. The biggest challenge is ensuring inclusion is not just a recruitment target, but a lived reality in career progression, decision-making and product design. It must be about creating an environment where everyone can thrive, and here the industry still has work to do.

At L&C, DEI isn’t a side project, it’s embedded into how we operate - from our leadership strategy to our customer journeys. Internally, we have inclusive recruitment practices, colleague-led inclusion networks, new-to-industry career pathways and policies that support caregivers, neurodiverse colleagues and those with health conditions. We’re proud to lead industry conversations through partnerships, panels, podcasts and mentoring programmes, and we actively share our learnings so that progress is collective, not competitive. By aligning our impact and inclusion strategy with our commercial goals, we make sure equity and diversity are not a “nice to have” - they’re how we do business.

-            Rachel Eason-Whale, London & Country Mortgages, headline sponsor and sponsor of Entrepreneur of the Year

We are enjoying seeing lots of companies offering flexible work arrangements and we've also witnessed greater efforts to diversify leadership teams, with more women and individuals from underrepresented backgrounds taking on senior roles. However, bias - both unconscious and systemic - continues to be a challenge, not just in financial services but across many sectors. Without doubt, there's room for growth and there’s a need for more structured initiatives to promote inclusion at all levels to achieve real, sustainable change.

Internally, we focus on creating a workplace that reflects the diversity of the customers we serve. We support flexible working arrangements and foster a culture where everyone feels empowered to thrive, innovate, and contribute to the future of the mortgage industry.

Externally, we believe that financial services should be accessible and transparent for all, which is why we design our mortgage solutions with inclusivity in mind. Our platform is built to support brokers and customers with a range of needs, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of their background, can access fair and efficient mortgage options.

-            Jennifer Harrison, MPowered Mortgages, sponsor of Woman in Fintech

In recent years, we’ve seen meaningful progress in recognising and celebrating diversity across financial services, from more women stepping into senior leadership roles to increased awareness of the importance of inclusive workplace cultures. Industry conversations around gender representation, flexible working, and equal opportunity are more open and actionable than ever before, with initiatives like the Women’s Recognition Awards helping to keep momentum strong.

However, progress isn’t uniform. There’s still work to be done in ensuring these changes are reflected at every level of the industry, not just at the top, and in widening the focus beyond gender to embrace all aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Maintaining momentum requires moving from awareness to consistent, measurable action; making sure EDI isn’t just a topic of discussion, but a standard practice across the sector.

We believe change starts with the culture you create. We work to ensure every team member feels heard, valued, and supported, and that opportunities are open to everyone regardless of background. We embrace flexible working, celebrate different perspectives, and partner with initiatives that share our belief in equality across the industry. For us, making financial services more equitable, diverse, and inclusive is about doing the right thing, and helping to build an industry where everyone has the chance to thrive.

-            Angel Brooks, One Mortgage System, sponsor of Woman in the Mortgage Industry

There has been great progress in keeping the conversation moving forward. It’s really good to see greater diversity in positions right across the board.

We have internal initiatives and a clear focus and goals, as well as alignment across all management layers.

-             Jonathan Stinton, Coventry for Intermediaries, sponsor of Spokesperson of the Year

Over recent years in the financial services sector, we’ve seen excellent progress in representation at senior levels, with more diverse talent stepping into leadership roles and greater visibility of varied voices and lived experiences in decision-making. This change has been necessary in creating inclusive cultures and driving meaningful change from the top down. To move forward, the industry must focus on incorporating EDI into everyday culture, not just policy, procedures or tick box exercises. Inclusion should be felt by everyone, at every level of an organisation.

Quantum Mortgages is passionate about making this sector more equitable, diverse and inclusive for everyone. At Quantum, we actively request our employees to provide feedback and suggestions so that we can make informed improvements to all aspects of the business including our processes, procedures and benefits.

We want to be one of the best companies to work for in this industry, and that means being approachable, flexible and adaptable to the needs of our employees as well as any future hires. As a young lender, we’re building a workplace from the ground up based on the requirements of what people truly need from their employers in 2025 and beyond.

-            Harsha Dahyea, Quantum Mortgages, sponsor of Financial Adviser of the Year

It has been great to see more and more women entering the market, knowing they can have a career across a wide range of roles! Whether that be in a loan management team, accounts or underwriting, or sales and marketing.

I also see many companies going above and beyond to be inclusive for everyone, whether that be related to gender, disabilities, race or beliefs. Tailoring to everyone is important, and not just for events but also for our online content – making sure it’s all accessible, and everyone has the ability to access the tools they need to make the right decisions, find the right job, and have the chance to be involved.

Being easily accessible is very important to us at Market Financial Solutions. We offer an online chat that is manned by our underwriting team directly, as well as the option to call or email. As Deputy Chief of Marketing, I’m also really proud that all of our educational content is free, and that we offer content in a wide range of formats. This includes videos with subtitles and transcripts, to podcasts, or long-form text that can be easily downloaded. Looking inwards at the company, from 1st August, 44% of our staff were women. When focusing on our senior executive team, this figure increases to 47%.

-            Leah Brunskill, Market Financial Solutions, sponsor of Woman Led Brokerage of the Year

We’ve seen real progress with more women entering finance and property, with some incredible trailblazers driving change and inspiring others. The next step is confidence - empowering more women to put themselves forward for senior roles and leadership opportunities. While gender diversity is improving, the industry must keep pushing to ensure all underrepresented groups see similar progress.

At Roma, our senior leadership team are largely women, but our focus is on giving opportunities to those who will make the greatest positive impact. Everyone here has the chance to make a difference. Our employee-led Diversity and Inclusion Committee and regular open-forum training sessions ensure that every voice is heard and encouraged.

-            Charlotte Rutter, Roma Finance, sponsor of Woman in Specialist Lending

There’s been clear progress in some areas. We’ve seen more women move into senior roles, and conversations about equity and inclusion are far more open than they used to be. There’s also greater transparency on issues like pay, which is an important step forward.

But we still have work to do. Progress around intersectionality has been much slower. We need to pay more attention to the barriers faced by women of colour, LGBTQ+ professionals and people with disabilities, and we need to act on those insights, not just acknowledge them.

Inclusion is not just about who is in the room. It’s about whether people feel heard, respected and able to contribute. That’s the part we need to stay focused on, and that’s where culture plays a bigger role than policy.

At HTB, we’re focused on creating a culture where people can grow and lead without having to change who they are. That starts with the way we listen, how we make decisions, and how we support each other to get better. We’ve created internal networks and open forums to give people a voice in shaping change. We’ve made sure development and progression are accessible, not just for those who shout the loudest. We’ve reviewed how we recruit and how we lead, and we’re honest about where we still have room to improve.

-               Alex Upton, Hampshire Trust Bank, sponsor of Woman in Management

There have been great strides made by setting targets and collecting more data. However, progress has been slow, in particular in junior and middle management, lack of investment for consistent talent development strategies across firms and pay equality.

We are focusing on initiatives that promote diversity both internally within our business and externally for our customers and the market. An example of an internal initiative is training on unbiased hiring practices and a review of our talent development program. An example of an external initiative is our focus on promoting customer case studies of women-led businesses, property investment and portfolio ownership.

-             Tanya Elmaz, Together, sponsor of Specialist Lending Adviser of the Year

You can see progress when attending industry events, as the proportion of women now attending is much higher than it ever was. However, much more work is still to be done to increase the number of women in senior roles, as the balance still needs to be addressed.

Many of the clients we work with have women spokespeople and having Victoria Hartley on the team has helped us consider angles and content that would be suitable for an inclusive audience.

-            Paul Hunt, Square 1 Media Limited, sponsor of Marketer of the Year

We’ve seen good progress from financial services in recent years when it comes to changing the narrative on EDI, moving from a set of targets or tick boxes to valuing the power that inclusive and diverse workplaces have to contribute to business success. The industry has also made strides in recognising the importance of gender and overall diversity in leadership, supported by initiatives such as gender pay gap reporting, flexible working policies, and diverse recruitment panels.

These measures are starting to have an impact, but the pace of change must accelerate. The industry still has room to develop when it comes to ensuring everyone, no matter their background or journey, has access to the same opportunities, whether this is joining the industry or progressing through it. We believe the sector needs to go further in engaging young people, particularly at schools and universities, to demonstrate that financial services is a sector where everyone can thrive.

We are committed to an inclusive culture, where our people feel they belong and are valued. We encourage team members to always do the right thing for our Society members, for colleagues and for our communities. This includes providing an environment where speaking up is encouraged and celebrated. We seek and act on feedback from our people on our culture, through our annual colleague surveys, colleague voice forums and colleague inclusion networks.

Alongside this, we have committed to meaningful actions, such as signing the Women in Finance Charter, setting and raising measurable diversity targets for female representation in leadership, and focusing on diverse hiring panels. We know visibility is vital. That’s why we champion role models across the organisation and actively encourage women to step forward into leadership programmes. We also believe opportunity must start early, by engaging with schools, universities, and entry-level schemes to show the next generation that financial services is a space where they can succeed, regardless of gender or background.

-            Matt Kingston, Nottingham Building Society, sponsor of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion: Mental Health Advocate

To learn more about how you too can get involved in the Women's Recognition Awards 2025, click here.