Home » National Equality Standard

Overview

The UK National Equality Standard was developed by business for business and sets clear equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) criteria against which companies are independently assessed. The NES is now being utilised globally.

It is supported by the Home Office and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) was involved in its development and launch.

The NES has become the accepted standard for inclusiveness in business across the UK and numerous organisations across all sectors have now completed the process which has generated outstanding feedback from both the public and private sectors.

Participation in a NES assessment ensures long term sustainable change, a beneficial impact in productivity and growth and provides a detailed roadmap with recommendations to help implement those areas requiring improvement.

Trevor Phillips OBE, National Equality Standard Deputy Chair, President John Lewis Partnership Council

Arun Batra, CEO/ Founder - National Equality Standard

Simon Feeke Global Equality Diversity Conference 2016 Part 1

Simon Feeke Global Equality Diversity Conference 2016 Part 2

Simon Feeke Global Equality Diversity Conference 2016 Part 3

Yvonne Smyth, Group Head of Diversity for Hays

A small snapshot of our clients

"Organisations from all sectors from across the globe have engaged in the NES process and have reported multiple business benefits as a consequence. A small snapshot are outlined below.”

In the news

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In the press

The Big Idea
EDF Energy has become the first energy company to achieve the National Equality Standard award
Thomson Reuters
National Equality Standard Award Field Fisher
Gender diversity in financial services Bruin Financial
Gender diversity in financial services Harvey Nash
HN working towards the National Equality Standard
The Independent
Business, not government, is taking the lead on diversity
Estates Gazette
A question of equality - Julia Cahill talks to CBRE director David Hitchcock and NES chief executive Arun Batra about the National Equality Standard and why it matters Construction News
Lendlease becomes only second industry firm to hit equality standard Arup
Arup has become the first engineering consultancy firm to receive certification from the National Equality Standard (NES).

Latest Press releases

Harvey Nash UK becomes first recruitment firm to receive EY's National Equality Standard

Harvey Nash, the global professional and executive recruitment group, today announced that their UK business has become the first recruitment firm to...

Cisco UKI

Connect everything. Innovate everywhere. Benefit everyone. That’s what we strive to do as a business – both inside and out.That said, we know better t...

Stephenson Harwood becomes fourth organisation ever to be awarded prestigious National Equality Standard

International law firm Stephenson Harwood has achieved accreditation from the National Equality Standard, making it the fourth organisation ever to be...

Pinsent Masons awarded National Equality Standard

International law firm Pinsent Masons has been awarded the National Equality Standard (NES) for equality, diversity and inclusion in the UK. Developed...

Yorkshire Water are delighted to receive the National Equality Standard

We recently became the first water company to receive the prestigious National Equality Standard (NES) accreditation. The NES certificate recognises...

New RICS ‘state of profession’ report benchmarks property industry on diversity

Building Inclusivity, a new report looking at all aspects of diversity and inclusion in the land, property and construction sector, and analysing how ...

FTSE 100 boards do not represent ethnic diversity in the UK, Parker Review finds

The UK's largest companies are failing to promote enough ethnic minority employees to top executive positions, Sir John Parker's diversity review has ...

The ethnic diversity of UK boards: launch of the Parker review

From:Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Margot James MPDelivered on:2 November 2016(Original script, may differ from delivered ...

Hogan Lovells awarded prestigious National Equality Standard

Hogan Lovells has been awarded the National Equality Standard (NES), a rigorous benchmark developed for business by business, recognising the work the...

Arup becomes first engineering consultancy firm to achieve national equality standard

Arup has become the first engineering consultancy firm to receive certification from the National Equality Standard (NES). The NES is independently as...

The business case for the NES is underpinned by four key drivers:

Financial

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Improved financial performance

Companies with women on their management boards outperform those without by 26%. Companies with one or more women on the board deliver higher than average returns on equity, lower gearing, better average growth and higher price/book value multiples.
Companies who report the highest levels of racial diversity bring in nearly 15 times more sales revenue on average than those with the lowest levels of racial diversity.
Companies in the top quartile for executive board diversity achieve ROE’s 53% higher, on average, than those in the bottom quartile. Profit margins at the most diverse companies were 14% higher on average, than those of the least diverse companies.
Companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.
Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.
Companies in the bottom quartile both for gender and for ethnicity and race are statistically less likely to achieve above-average financial returns.

Reduced risk of costs relating to discrimination cases

Workplace discrimination and harassment cases can be a large cost to businesses and can result in employees having lower organisational commitment and increased absenteeism. In 2014/15 award payments in the UK for discrimination claims went up to £557,039. In addition to settlements, there are additional costs, such as management time, legal costs and reputational costs to consider. Increased diversity awareness and inclusion focus can help to reduce the number of discrimination claims.

Market

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Globalisation

The increased globalisation of businesses is creating a growing need for an inclusive workplace environment. Almost all managers need an understanding of international, cross-cultural competencies because they are dealing with suppliers, clients, and colleagues from various countries and cultures around the world.
A business with a diverse workforce can attract a wider customer base, has the ability to recognise new potential markets and provide a better, more tailored service to meet individual needs.
Multinational corporations employ people from all around the world, understanding how to effectively interact and communicate enables diverse people to share ideas and experiences in ways which can benefit rather than hinder businesses.

Leaders

Analysis has shown organisations with a diverse leadership have significant market advantage.

Companies with a diverse leadership are 45% more likely to improve market share.

Companies with a diverse leadership are 70% more likely to capture a new market.

Multi billion dollar procurement opportunities

EY was selected as the auditors of a US$9B dollar technology. The company’s CEO stated that diversity and inclusiveness helped EY win.

Legal and regulatory

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Legal and regulatory

Government is continuing to expand the laws and regulations mandating equal treatment of women and other disadvantaged groups. The compulsory Gender Pay Gap Reporting legislation, coming into force in 2016, will require companies with more than 250 employees to disclose pay discrepancies between men and women. The 2010 Equality Act provides comprehensive legal protection for all the protected characteristics: gender, age, race, disability, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, religion and belief, marriage and civil partnership, and gender reassignment.

Individual industry authorities, such as the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority, are increasingly building in legislative requirements and diversity regulations and guidance.

People

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Attract and retain the best people

Studies have shown that promoting diversity can increase employee motivation and staff retention. In more diverse and inclusive workforces the number of employees who intend to stay with their firm increases by 20% and 50% more employees express a commitment to their teams.(9) In a survey of 200 European Companies, 62% of companies said that diversity programmes helped to attract and retain highly talented people.

Increased productivity and motivation

Equal opportunity policies and practices have been linked to increased productivity, e.g.: Diversity training — Companies which have diversity training are more likely to report higher productivity and better business performance.

Flexible working practices — 58% of SMEs reported improvement in productivity as a result of flexible working practices.

Talent shortage

Falling birth rates will create a talent shortage, by 2040 Europe will have a shortfall of 24 million workers aged 15 to 65. Raising the proportion of women in the workplace to that of men would cut the gap to 3 million. The NES will help organisations create a culture where this is possible.

Teams which have at least one team member who matches the cultural background of their “end user” are 158% more likely to understand and innovate for that end user.

Best performing teams 72% of companies with diverse teams report increased earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization growth rates, by 10% or more.

The Journey

Standards & competencies

Click here to view the NES standards & competencies

The assessment journey

Click here to view NES assessment journey

Sample report

Upon completing the assessment, NES clients are provided with a final report outlining the detailed findings, areas of strength, and key areas for improvement. The report also details recommendations which aim to drive significant and sustainable change within the organisation.

Download the sample report here

Our NES Champions

Nicola Rabson

Caroline Griffiths

Sue Millar

Sir Ken Olisa

Emer Timmons

Sir David Bell

Trevor Phillips

Amanda Clack

Nicola Rabson

Global head, Employment & Incentives Group, Linklaters LLP

Nicola is global head of the Employment & Incentives Group and is a very well-known figure in the employment world with significant experience across the breadth of employment law. She tackles the most complex of employment litigation and advice with extensive experience of High Court and Tribunal litigation including acting for Commerzbank in the largest bonus litigation in the UK to date and in the seminal case of Commerzbank v Keen. She is listed as a leading individual in Legal500 and is regularly cited in the press as an authority in employment law matters. Her core clients regard her as the point of contact for their most challenging and sensitive matters. She is also regularly involved in litigation with multiple jurisdictions. In addition to her extensive litigation experience, she has advised numerous institutions on the employment aspects of purchases, related hirings, terminations, restrictive covenants and team moves and has managed large global projects in relation to redundancies, compensation reviews and the employment aspects of regulatory investigations. Nicola is particularly interested in effective whistleblowing; she provided feedback to the Whistleblowing Commission and initiated the Linklaters Listen Up! Campaign which brought together leading academics and figures in the whistleblowing space in a panel discussion in April 2014.

Although now full-time, Nicola is also a believer in flexible working and was listed by the Financial Times as a Power Part-Timer in 2012. She was also listed as a top 20 LGBT ally by OUTstanding in October 2014 and 2015. She is a firm believer in the importance of diversity and regularly speaks at events that focus on people management, leadership and diversity.

Caroline Griffiths

Head of HR, Cisco UK and Ireland

During her time with Cisco, she has held a number of different positions including Head of HR for Africa and HR Business Partner for EMEA Services. Caroline’s HR career began in the UK rail industry and immediately prior to joining Cisco Caroline was Head of HR for Rail Safety and Standards Board. Caroline is committed to improving diversity in organisations and is an advocate for EDI initiatives. She has an active interest in the development of talent and skills for the future in the technology industry, particularly amongst young women and girls. Caroline also mentors prisoners and coaches young talent.

Sue Millar

Partner, Stephenson Harwood LLP

Sue is a partner in the commercial litigation group at Stephenson Harwood. She is also the firm's Diversity and Inclusion Champion, overseeing its D&I activities, setting the agenda for future activities and measuring their success. Sue has introduced a number of social mobility and gender diversity initiatives including Stephenson Harwood's partnership with the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust and the firm's female career progression and parental partner programmes. "Equality of opportunity is a business imperative. The NES enabled us independently to measure how far we have come in nurturing an inclusive workplace but also identified for us areas for future focus".

Sir Ken Olisa

Chair, Thames Reach

Sir Ken Olisa is a businessman and philanthropist, the founder of two technology merchant banks and the first British-born black man to serve as a Director of a FTSE-100 company (Reuters). An advocate of social inclusion, he is Chair of Thames Reach, a charity working to shelter and resettle the homeless; Chair of the Shaw Trust, supporting the disabled and chronically unemployed to find work; founding Chair of the Powerlist Foundation, supporting future leaders from BME and disadvantaged backgrounds; a former Governor of the Peabody Trust; and a former Non-Executive Director of the West Lambeth NHS Trust.

Emer Timmons

Chief Marketing Officer and President of Strategic Sales, Brightstar Corp. (subsidiary of SoftBank)

Emer is the Chief Marketing Officer and President of Strategic Sales for Brightstar and was appointed in July 2016.

Brightstar is the leading global mobile services company, and the largest global subsidiary of SoftBank Group. It serves 50,000+ carrier, retail and enterprise customers across 100 countries in 6 continents, touching over 100,000 points of sale.

In May 2017 Emer was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Paddy Power Betfair plc and member of the Audit Committee. Paddy Power Betfair plc is one of the world’s leading sports betting and gaming operators, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100.

Emer has been a member of the Women’s Business Council (WBC) since 2013. This group was set up in 2012 to advise the UK Government on how women’s contribution to growth of the UK economy could be maximised. The WBC reports to the Minister for Women and Equalities and their work is supported by the Government Equalities Office. Last year Emer was appointed to co-chair the Men as Change Agents (MACA) board for the WBC. MACA seeks to harness men to act as sponsors and promote cultural change to foster equality.

In May 2017 she was honoured as one of the top 21 Leaders of the 21^st Century, an honour which pays tribute to those women and men who have made an outstanding impact on gender equality around the globe. Emer was the only European woman to be recognized as an honouree in 2017.

Her awards include: UK Woman of the Year from the Women in IT Awards, the Stevie International Awards for both Global Female Business Executive of the Year and Global Maverick of the Year; and Female UK Corporate Leader. Emer was also awarded the CBI First Women Award for Business Services.

Sir David Bell

Former director of Pearson plc and Chairman of the Financial Times

Sir David Bell is a non executive director of the Economist. He retired as a director of Pearson plc and Chairman of the Financial Times at the end of 2009 after thirteen years on the Board.

David was appointed Chief Executive of the Financial Times in 1993 and became Chairman in 1996. In July 1998 he was also appointed Pearson’s Director for People with responsibility for the recruitment, motivation, development and reward of employees across the Pearson Group & in June 2003 he became Chairman of Pearson Inc in New York.

In addition to this he is Chairman of Sadler’s Wells, Chair of Council, Roehampton University, Chairman of the London Transport Museum, Chairman of the Transformation Trust, Chairman, Rare Recruitment, Chair of Bath Mozartfest, Chair of Cambridge University Press, Chairman of Chapel Street Community Schools Trust, Chair of Coram and Chair of The Institute of War & Peace Reporting Europe. He is also a trustee of the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Pearson Group Pension, Cornerstone Property Assets and a member of the Honorary Council of the Royal National Theatre.

In 2011-2012 David was an Assessor on the Leveson Inquiry into the Culture, Practice and Ethics of the Press. Between 1995-2002 he was Chairman of the Millennium Bridge Trust, responsible for conceiving the first new bridge across the Thames in the centre of London for 100 years and between 2002-2012 he was Chairman of the national homelessness charity, Crisis.

David, born in 1946 in Henfield, Sussex was educated at Cambridge University and the University of Pennsylvania, is married with three children and lives in Islington. David received his knighthood for services to industry, the arts and charity.

Trevor Phillips

Former President, Partnership Council at the John Lewis Partnership, and Former Chair, EHRC

Trevor is the former President of the Partnership Council of the John Lewis Partnership and is also currently the Deputy Chair of the National Equality Standard board and Chair of Green Park Diversity Analytics. He is the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. He had previously been the Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality and the elected Chair of the Greater London Authority.

Trevor Phillips is a writer and television producer. He is co-founder of Webber Phillips Ltd, a data analytics provider. His most recent work for TV is ‘Things We Won’t Say About Race That Are True’, a feature documentary for Channel 4, broadcast in March 2015. The programme, which he wrote and presented, attracted some two million viewers, as well as extensive press coverage.

Born in London in 1953, Trevor Phillips was educated in London and in Georgetown, Guyana, and studied chemistry at Imperial College London. Between 1978 and 1980, he was president of The National Union of Students.

Trevor retains an active interest in the arts and music and is a member of the Council of Aldeburgh Music, and a Board member of the Barbican Arts Centre. His other voluntary activities include serving as a board member of the Social Mobility Foundation, and of the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.

He is the recipient of several honorary doctorates, the OBE, and was awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur by the French Government in 2007.

Amanda Clack

Head of Strategic Consulting, CBRE Ltd

Amanda Clack is Head of Strategic Consulting at CBRE Ltd, past President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and formerly a Partner at EY. With 30 years extensive board-level experience gained on strategic assignments in government and the private sector, Amanda is experienced in complex programme management and business change across a broad range of sectors. She has worked across government and was a Mission Critical Programme Engagement Director for the Prime Ministers’ Delivery Unit. RICS is the world’s largest global professional body in land, property and the built environment and as 2016/2017 President, Amanda’s key themes were Infrastructure, The War for Talent (and Diversity and Inclusion in the Built Environment), Cities and the East (China and India). Amanda was also a Partner for 9 years with PwC where she led the South-East consultancy business. She was also the Head of Profession for Programme and Project Management leading on two of the PwC global reports for PPM covering 3025 people across 110 countries.

D&I at EY

Sally Bucknell

Director, Diversity & Inclusiveness, UK&I

Sally is Director, Diversity & Inclusiveness for the UK firm of EY LLP, a global professional services organisation. She has over 25 years’ experience in HR roles in professional services and leads on change and organisational development. Sally worked closely on the firm’s agile working culture change programme, establishing an in-house executive coaching team and introducing Career and Family coaching to support parents to transition in and out of the workplace.

Sally lives in Cheshire with partner and two school aged children. She works 4 days a week for EY, committing time outside work to mentoring social entrepreneurs with the EY Foundation, membership of the Manchester Advisory Board of Common Purpose and is a member of Keele University Council.

Harry Gaskell

Partner - Chief Innovation Officer

Harry is EY’s UK and Ireland Chief Innovation Officer. He ensures that EY uses digital technologies to support it’s clients transformations and to launch new innovative services. He is member of EY’s UK&I Leadership Team and prior to taking on this role Harry was the managing partner of the 1500-strong UK&I Advisory business which he grew from scratch since rejoining Ernst & Young in 2005. He has over 25 years consulting experience focused on helping organisations make major changes to their business, culture or organisation. Since 2011 Harry has been the Leader of Diversity and Inclusion for EY in the UK and Ireland. Prior to joining EY, Harry was a VP at Capgemini and previously worked at Andersen Consulting, and he has an MA in Physics from Corpus Christi College Oxford.

Maggie Stilwell

EY Managing Partner for Talent in UK and Ireland

Maggie Stilwell is EY’s Managing Partner for Talent in UK and Ireland and a member of the Firm’s leadership team. She is responsible for all matters concerning the recruitment, retention and development of its staff. Maggie is also an experienced dispute advisory partner, specialising in expert witness and expert determinations. She has been with EY for over 19 years and has experience in a number of sectors including energy, pharmaceuticals, consumer products and financial services.

Maggie has a special interest in diversity and inclusiveness, including social mobility. Recently Maggie led the decision to change EY’s recruitment process by removing academic qualifications as a filter to its process for graduates and school leavers. Her other interest is talent development, having led the Firm’s Accelerated Leadership Program she is now leading the roll out of a fast track partner development process in collaboration with Oxford University’s Said Business School. Maggie is an accredited performance coach

Arun Batra

Partner at EY

Arun is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Equality Standard, is a Partner at EY and has significant experience leading local and national diversity initiatives. Prior to running the NES, he led the delivery of the Diversity Works for London, the UK's largest private sector equality initiative.

As Director of the Mayors London Development Agency (LDA), he led the Equality and Diversity agenda in London and nationally where he was responsible for ensuring that London's diverse communities benefited from £500m annual investment. He was advisor to the ex-Attorney General, Baroness Scotland and continues to work closely with senior Government figures acting as a NED to the Home Office as well as working with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to increase the representation of ethnic minorities on boards and at executive level.

Arun is a prominent figure on several boards including the Lord Mayor of London's Appeal which culminated in the presentation of a diversity manifesto for the City to adopt going forward.

Most recently, he was recognised as one of the UKs most influential Asians and won the prestigious HR Consultant of the Year accolade which was awarded by the Management Consultancies Association for making "a significant difference to UK society".

Simon Feeke

Director - Culture, Diversity & Inclusion

Simon is a Director in EY’s Culture. Diversity & Inclusion practice. In this role Simon leads on large scale complex talent projects for clients across a range of industries, helping them innovate better and navigate business disruption through diverse teams and inclusive leaders. Recent projects have included increasing representation of women and BAME personnel in the defence sector and creating and delivering an Inclusive Leadership programme for ExCo at a global bank. Simon also leads National Equality Standard assessment teams, the UK standard for organisational D&I proficiency. Prior to joining EY, Simon was the Director of Workplace Programmes at Stonewall, Europe’s largest equality organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality where he was responsible for the continued growth and implementation of the UK and Global Diversity Champions Programmes, annual delivery of the Workplace Equality Index and national workplace conferences.

Jason Lester

Managing Partner Tax, UK & Ireland

Jason joined EY in 1994, having graduated from Sheffield University where he studied Geography.

For many years, Jason worked in our International Tax Services team advising UK PLCs and foreign multinationals on a wide variety of issues including M&A, international expansion, supply chain and financing. Starting his career in our Birmingham office, he transferred to London in 1997 and then to our New York office in 1999 where he joined our UK Tax Desk team, providing on the ground support to US MNCs.

He returned to the UK in the early 2000’s to establish an International Tax Services team serving our non-London client base. Since then, he has led our Business Tax Services and continued to lead our relationship with Diageo PLC and provide senior partner support to a number of other clients.

In September 2014, Jason assumed leadership of our Tax practice across UKI where his responsibilities include spending time with many of our most significant clients ensuring our teams deliver exceptional client service. He sits on our UK executive board and also leads EYs Diversity and Inclusiveness agenda.

Jason and his wife Denise live in Warwickshire with their two boys, Tom (15), and Sam (13). Away from work he enjoys anything to do with the outdoors.

Hywel Ball

Managing Partner, Assurance, UK & Ireland, UK Head of Audit and UK board member - EY

Hywel has been with EY for over 30 years, 20 of those as a Partner providing services for clients across a range of sectors, including many FTSE 100 companies. Hywel was the firm’s Industry Leader for the Energy and Utilities sector for EMEIA and Chairman of the firm in Scotland. He has in-depth knowledge of regulation and dealing with regulatory change and has wide experience coordinating multinational assignments on large companies, in both audit and non-audit capacity.

Get in Touch

For more information about the Assessment and how we can help, please contact one of the following:

Signing up	Process enquiries
Arun Batra abatra@uk.ey.com	Rachel Sadka rsadka@uk.ey.com
Sara Winfield swinfield@uk.ey.com	Minna Lewis mlewis@uk.ey.com
Simon Feeke sfeeke@uk.ey.com