Stonewall today publishes its Top 100 Employers 2015, showcasing Britain’s best employers for lesbian, gay and bisexual staff. Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust is named as 2015’s top gay-friendly employer; in second place is Tower Hamlets Homes and Lloyds Banking Group is third. On the fifteenth anniversary of the repeal of the ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual people serving in the military all three of the armed forces appear on the list for the first time and MI5 takes seventh place.
Pride UK at American Express wins the award for Network Group of the Year. Alison Lowe, Touchstone’s Chief Executive is named Senior Champion of the Year. Tamoor Ali, Senior Commercial Analyst at BP is Role Model of the Year. Ally of the Year is awarded to EDF Energy’s Chief Nuclear Officer Mark Gorry.
On 12 January 2000 the ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual people serving in the military was lifted. In 2015 The Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force secure positions at 46, 56 and 91 respectively.
Accenture, Barclays, BP, Citi, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith Freehills, HSBC, IBM, RBS and the Royal Air Force are named as Top Global Employers, based on their support for their lesbian, gay and bisexual staff worldwide.
Ruth Hunt, Stonewall Chief Executive said: ‘Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and every employer featured in the 2015 Top 100 have performed remarkably. Not only was this the most competitive year to date, we’re delighted to see that in just fifteen years our armed forces are making real progress in supporting and developing their lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.’
Ruth Hawkins, Chief Executive, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, said: ‘I am absolutely delighted to lead Stonewall’s Employer of the Year for 2015. The Trust has an outstanding reputation for its proactive approach to all strands of equality and diversity. Having appeared in the Top 100 list for a number of years it is especially rewarding to see that our continued efforts to tackle discrimination and create an inclusive workplace have been recognised.’
Full results of the Stonewall Top Employers 2015: The Workplace Equality Index are available now on Stonewall’s website – www.stonewall.org.uk/WEI2015 – with an awards reception held tonight at the Mondrian Hotel, kindly supported by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
The Top 100 list is based on the results of Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index 2015, the eleventh published by the charity. The Index is based on a range of key indicators which include a confidential questionnaire of lesbian, gay and bisexual staff, with over 9,700 participants. This consistently revealed that employees from organisations ranked in Stonewall’s Top 100 exhibited higher levels of staff satisfaction and loyalty.
For further information on the Workplace Equality Index visit www.stonewall.org.uk/WEI2015 or follow the conversation on Twitter and Facebook using #WEI2015.
