We’ve just launched our 2025 Impact Report, drawing on data from over 200,000 employees across UK financial services. Professionals from lower socio-economic backgrounds progress up to 25% slower than their more privileged peers, despite performing at the same level. This is a powerful reminder that background remains one of the biggest barriers to leadership. It’s not just a fairness issue – it’s a productivity and risk issue too. You can read the full report here.
The message is timely. On 15 July, I had the privilege of attending the Chancellor’s Mansion House announcement of the UK’s financial services sector growth plan. I was pleased to see workplace diversity recognised within the Industrial Strategy – a vital step toward unlocking economic growth.
At Progress Together, we also welcome the FCA’s recognition that tackling non-financial misconduct is essential to building healthy, inclusive workplace cultures. Creating environments where individuals feel safe to speak up is not just good governance – it’s critical to attracting and retaining diverse talent across the sector.
To drive meaningful change, we strongly recommend that the FCA’s guidance explicitly references socio-economic background. Homogenous leadership cultures are not only unrepresentative, they can lead to groupthink, weak decision-making, and ultimately, consumer harm.
Embedding socio-economic inclusion will strengthen cognitive diversity, foster a speak-up culture, and deliver better outcomes – especially for vulnerable customers.
We urge all stakeholders to reflect these realities in their responses to the FCA’s consultation. Let’s build a financial services sector where performance, not polish, defines success.