Our progress on gender and ethnicity inclusion
As a purpose led organisation, it should be no surprise that we’re serious about diversity and inclusion (D&I). Not only is it the right thing to do for our colleagues, communities and members but there’s also strong research that suggests more diverse businesses outperform their competitors.
And it’s not something that we are half hearted about. It’s baked into everything we do.
We have a Society shared goal of being an inclusive, inspiring workplace and we’re committed to providing a welcoming environment for everyone.
Women in Finance Charter
We signed up to the Women in Finance Charter in 2018, reinforcing our commitment to improving gender diversity, particularly in senior roles.
Our journey so far:
- We first set a target of 33% women on our Board, which we achieved.
- In 2021, we raised the bar to 50% women on the Board and set a wider ambition: 40% of senior management roles held by women by the end of 2025.
Here’s where we stand today:
- 58% of our colleagues are female
- 50% of our Executive Team are women
- 93% of colleagues believe they are treated fairly regardless of gender
- Ranked 12th in Great Place to Work’s UK Best Workplaces for Women 2025 (Super Large Company category)
- Our intern, apprentice, and graduate schemes continue to bring new and diverse talent into the Society
- As of 31 December 2025, women held 35% of senior management roles and 33% of Board roles, compared to 36% senior management and 30% Board roles in 2021
We’ve made strong progress and continue to build momentum. While we didn’t fully reach our 2025 ambition, we’re proud of the steps we’ve taken and remain committed to achieving balance at senior levels.
That’s why we’ve set a new Women in Finance Charter target: 45% of senior management roles across the Group to be held by women by the end of 2030.
Our gender and ethnicity pay gaps
We’ve been publishing our gender pay gap since 2017, and our ethnicity pay gap since 2023.
This year we’ve seen a small improvement in our mean and median gender pay gap. We’ve also seen a reduction in our mean ethnicity pay gap, but our median ethnicity pay gap has increased slightly..
