NEWS ROUND-Up
Wickes goes for gold on inclusivity
Home improvement retailer Wickes has secured Stonewall’s Gold award for leading LGBTQ+ inclusivity.
Stonewall, Europe’s largest charity for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer rights, launched its widely anticipated Top 100 Employers List and Wickes was recognised for its work on supporting LGBTQ+ staff to be themselves at work.
Over the past year, Wickes has undertaken significant strides towards creating an inclusive working environment, including the introduction of a 3-year strategy to significantly improve the support offered to their Trans and non-binary colleagues.
Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers List 2023 is the UK’s leading ranking of employers from public, private and third sectors on how inclusive their workplaces are.
Creating inclusive environments makes the workplace safer and better for everyone – not just LGBTQ+ people.
Nancy Kelley, CEO of Stonewall (she/her) said: “It’s been fantastic to see all of the work put in by Wickes over the past year to create a workplace where LGBTQ+ staff feel free to thrive as themselves. For many of us, the majority of our time is spent at work, so if we have to hide who we are it can take an enormous personal toll and hold us back from fulfilling our true potential.
“Creating environments where we can all feel comfortable makes our workplaces safer, better and friendlier places for everyone and helps staff be proud of who they are. We’re incredibly proud to see so many new entrants from a range of sectors on this year’s list, who are committed to making LGBTQ+ people’s lives better.”
Ben Jackson, Pride Network chair for Wickes said: “Our entry into the Top 100 is a result of a lot of hard work and commitment from our Pride Network. To be ranked at number 11 overall has blown us away, and we are thrilled with this result.
“Our aim at Wickes is to ensure that every one of our colleagues can feel at home and we’ve worked so hard over the past few years to ensure our LGBTQ+ community are recognised and supported and their individual identities celebrated; this has meant fundamental changes to our business and to be validated by an industry body such as Stonewall is incredible.”
