WRAs' vision for the future: the next 50 years

Last year, we marked 50 years since the Sex Discrimination Act was signed into law, giving women the freedom to open bank accounts and apply for mortgages without a man acting as a guarantor.  

But even in celebrating this significant milestone and the progress that the mortgage and financial services sector has made since then, there was still a sense that so much more can and should be done to make the industry a space in which not only women, but all underrepresented groups, can truly thrive. 

This was further enforced in March of this year, with the 10-year anniversary of the launch of the Women in Finance Charter and its aim "to encourage the financial services industry to move towards gender balance in senior management." While significant progress has been made in this time, it will be another two decades before parity is reached if the rate of change continues at its current pace. 

The winners of previous Women’s Recognition Awards shared the changes that they want to see in the next 50 years, with all of them expressing a strong hope for the financial services industry to become a place where equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are "fully embedded" and "part of the culture," reflecting the diverse and intersectional society that the sector serves in its products and leadership. 

Furthermore, the goal for many is for fairness to be sustained and seen in customer outcomes and for progress to be accessible and transparent. In fact, some hope for a sector where conversations about EDI are no longer needed because it is so normalised in an industry that has become "genuinely human."

However, Louise Stevens, Later Life Adviser of the Year 2025, acknowledges that "progress isn't always linear and can sometimes feel like things move backwards before they move forward again." 

This point resurfaced across the mortgage industry last month, when the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed that just 18% of advisers are women, combined with the fact that the UK financial services sector remains one of the poorest performing in terms of the gender pay gap.  

Claire Sweet, EDI: Best Customer Support winner 2025, echoes this concern, urging financial services "to catch up with the real world," while Gemma Bacon from L&C Mortgages, Equality Employer of the Year 2025, says that "right now, senior leadership still skews pretty narrow." 

"In 50 years, we’d hope that boards and executive teams feature people from all backgrounds who feel they belong, can thrive and do not have to work harder to be seen, heard or valued," Gemma continues, "we hope inclusion has moved beyond policy into everyday practice, with products, services and customer journeys designed with different lived experiences in mind from the outset. That means accessibility, cultural understanding, inclusive language, and genuine consideration of vulnerability becoming standard. 

"In 50 years’, time, success should not just be measured by profit, but by the positive impact firms have on people, communities and trust in the sector."

Louise ultimately believes that "the industry will continue to evolve in the right direction," but the question is, how do we get there in the next 50 years? 

Leading by example into the future 

"For me, it starts with leadership that cares," says Gina Burrows, Woman in Management 2024, "leaders who listen, normalise flexibility, and create space for people to show up as themselves."  

"When people feel supported, trusted and valued for who they are, then meaningful, lasting change really happens." 

Siobhan Moran, EDI: Best Leadership winner 2025, adds that leaders should be trained "to run inclusive teams" in terms of "psychological safety, fair allocation of work, effective feedback, and confident challenge," and that leadership should be expected "to role model inclusive behaviours day to day, not only during awareness moments." 

She suggests setting "clear measurable goals" for factors such as "representation, pay equity, promotion rates, attrition, and engagement," and reviewing them "like any other performance metric," while "tying senior leader objectives and rewards to progress because what gets measured gets managed."

Gemma also stresses that "the industry needs to move from intention to action and from occasional conversation to sustained accountability," adding that "inclusion must be treated as a business priority, not a side initiative," with "leaders setting the tone from the top and backing it with visibility, investment and clear ownership."

In order to achieve this, Gemma underlines the need for financial services "to widen who gets in, who gets on and who gets heard."

"That means looking honestly at recruitment, progression routes, leadership representation and barriers that may still exist for different groups," she says, "it is not enough to invite diverse talent in if the environment does not allow people to thrive and feel a genuine sense of belonging." 

Siobhan believes that the industry should "standardise hiring and promotion with structured interviews, diverse panels, consistent scoring, and transparent criteria," and "invest in sponsorship, not just mentoring, so underrepresented talent gets access to stretch roles and visible work with a focus on accelerating career progression."

"Over the coming decades, I expect to see greater emphasis placed on broadening access to the profession," adds Monica Bradley, Entrepreneur of the Year 2025, "improving representation across a range of backgrounds, and developing a deeper cultural understanding within organisations. It’s important to ensure that people feel valued, supported, and able to thrive once inside." 

"Gender is only one dimension of diversity. A truly inclusive mortgage industry must reflect the full breadth of the communities it serves." 

Making customers part of the conversation 

Gemma explains that a more diverse industry in which organisations listen more to "those with lived experience" can have a positive impact on financial services and the customers it serves, as organisations can "use that insight to shape change and the courage to ask what may be missing."

"There also needs to be a stronger focus on inclusive design" she adds, "products, services, systems, and communications should be created with different needs in mind from the start, rather than adapted later. When we design for accessibility, vulnerability and real-life experiences, we create better outcomes for everyone." 

Roxanne Barker, Entrepreneur of the Year 2024, also highlights the importance of customer outcomes: "The industry needs clear leadership accountability, fair and transparent hiring and progression, and a commitment to removing bias from lending and underwriting systems. It also requires better access to financial education and more inclusive products that reflect real customer needs.  

To reach these goals, Siobhan suggests using "diverse customer insight in product design and governance so policies don’t unintentionally disadvantage certain groups," and "regularly testing for differential outcomes, such as approval rates, pricing, complaints, and vulnerability support - and fix root causes," she says. 

A workplace adapted for all 

Flexible working is another key discussion point. The latest review of the Women in Finance Charter revealed that the majority of signatories offer some form of hybrid working, with two thirds capturing data on colleagues working in a non-typical way, such as part-time, job sharing or fully remotely, although only 10% provided a detailed breakdown of flexible workers. 

Louise stresses the necessity of "creating a culture that better reflects shared responsibility at home as well as at work." 

"If a mother is on maternity leave, we should also encourage and support fathers to take meaningful time off in a similar way. This helps to normalise caregiving for men as well as women, builds understanding of the realities of balancing work and family, and ultimately supports women to return to work if they choose, without their careers being disproportionately impacted," she says. 

"Honestly, I think the most powerful thing any of us can do is build the business we wished existed," says Sheena Campbell, Mortgage Adviser of the Year 2025. "Show up as yourself. Create a working environment that retains good people rather than burning them out. Prove that you don't have to operate the old way to be successful.  

"For me that's meant building Campbell Financial around my values, including a four-day client week, which I made a deliberate and public part of how we work. It's a statement about what kind of business we are."  

"The next generation are watching, and they're building accordingly. The more of us who demonstrate there's another way, the faster the whole industry shifts."   

"The structure of the workplace itself is likely to evolve. Historically, the mortgage sector has been demanding and, at times, inflexible, which can create barriers, especially for those balancing their work with family commitments," Sheena continues. 

Monica believes that "flexibility around work will become fairly standard" in the next 50 years: "It’s already starting to happen. Career progression will increasingly accommodate different life stages, and success will be defined by contribution and outcomes rather than presence alone.  

"However, true progress cannot be measured solely by participation within our industry," she adds, noting that "despite significant advancements," issues such as "disparities in earnings, wealth accumulation, and property ownership still remain.  

"The mortgage industry has an important role to play in addressing these imbalances. Future innovation in lending must take into account the realities of modern financial lives, including self-employment, career breaks, and single-income households." 

Siobhan also underlines the need for workplaces to "normalise flexibility and wellbeing as part of performance." 

"Treat flexible working and sustainable workloads as standard ways of working, not special arrangements. Build cultures where people can balance life stages without career penalties, this is where communities and networks can help set norms and share what works."  

Working together to shape the industry of tomorrow  

She notes that "this will also help to attract younger talent into mortgages and financial services," and adds that businesses should "be clear on learning pathways: qualifications, rotations and time to competence plans so early career colleagues can see momentum," and should "create early career experiences that don’t disappoint," such as "strong onboarding buddying and meaningful work early," as well as "reverse mentoring and employee voice forums so younger colleagues influence how work gets done." 

Meanwhile, Gemma points out that while "technology will play a pivotal role in shaping the future" of the sector, and "advances in automation and artificial intelligence have the potential to make processes more efficient and accessible," a key factor will be "collaboration across the industry." 

"No one organisation will solve this alone. Sharing best practice, challenging outdated norms, learning from each other and keeping the conversation moving will all help raise standards across the sector. To get there, we need commitment over convenience, action over optics and a shared determination to build an industry where everyone has a fair chance to belong and succeed," she says. 

Siobhan also underlines the power of collaboration "to raise the bar," suggesting partnerships with organisations such as Women in Banking & Finance (WIBF) to "share best practice, develop pipelines, and keep momentum through external challenge and community." 

"Looking ahead, creating opportunities for women to connect, learn, and support one another will remain essential." 

"By sharing experiences, celebrating achievements, and championing diverse voices, we can help to inspire the next generation," she says. 

Lauren Boldy, Financial Adviser of the Year 2025, points out that "believing in ourselves, and in each other, to make a difference is really important. The butterfly effect reminds us that small actions can lead to big change over time, and I believe that by encouraging and inspiring one another to take action, we can gradually change the landscape of financial services.

"These small, positive steps can genuinely help make our industry better balanced and more broadly represented." 

Nominations for the Women's Recognition Awards 2026 launch on 6th May, so if you want to be a part of the next 50 years of change in our industry, nominate yourself and others or learn about how else you can be a part of #WRA26 here.