Near gender parity has been achieved on retail boards but not everything is rosy, BRC report claims

Retailers have made huge strides on gender equality in the boardroom over the last five years, according to a report from the British Retail Consortium and The MBS Group. While women made up 32% of boardrooms five years ago, that number has now almost reached parity, at 47% in this year’s report.

Many retailers have focused on training up the next generation, creating a clear pipeline of future leaders within their businesses. Other initiatives include appointment of D&I leaders, support for those going through menopause, mentoring, and employee led initiatives.

However, the report also shows that not everything is rosy. Leadership representation for people with other characteristics such as a disability and from lower socioeconomic backgrounds saw slow progress. And, despite the whole retail workforce seeing greater ethnic representation, the number of leaders from these minority groups fell. While 12% of retail boards had representation from a minority group last year, it was only 8% this year.

The industry has much further to go to foster an inclusive workplace culture that is felt by everyone. Employee feelings of belonging and inclusion are generally low, especially for those who selected “prefer not to say” under gender, those with a disability, and those identifying as Black/African/Caribbean.

Other key statistics include: 90% of retailers have a coordinated D&I strategy in place (2024: 98%); 75% of retailers have at least one senior leader from a lower socioeconomic background (2024: 70%); 58% of businesses could identify at least one senior leader from the LGBTQ+ community (2024: 67%); 15% of businesses could identify at least one disabled leader (2024: 11%).

The impact of a difficult economic backdrop and cost pressures on retailers coupled with the increasingly challenging external conversation around D&I is clear in the report’s findings. But there is also a determination from many retailers to not allow these factors to interfere with their mission in creating a truly equitable, productive workplace.

Retailers must continue to persevere and build on their hard work so far, the BRC says. They need to reflect on what is, and what is not, working and find solutions. The report identifies just how crucial CEO accountability and buy-in is for moving inclusion forward, especially CEO engagement with the wider workforce.

In 2021, alongside the first edition of this report, the BRC launched its D&I Charter. Nearly 90 retailers are now signatories and have pledged to improve D&I by focusing on six areas - CEO oversight, recruitment, progression, reporting, inclusivity, and responsibility.

Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive at BRC , says: “Retailers should celebrate the enormous efforts made to ensure more women have a seat at the executive table. More than half of retail customer bases are women, so having their perspective is essential to success.”

“But, if this year’s results have shown us anything, it is that we cannot rest on our laurels as progress can quickly fade. There is little point in having more diverse leadership if this does not translate into the lived experience of people within a business. All employees must feel a sense of belonging to be productive and power a business to a successful future. The work on achieving true diversity and inclusion must not stop until we get where the industry needs to be.”

Elliott Goldstein, Managing Partner at The MBS Group, says: “For the fifth year, MBS is proud to have partnered with the BRC to continue to move the dial on diversity and inclusion in the retail industry. Although we have seen real progress since our research began in 2021 - more than half of all direct reports into the executive committee in retail today are women – progress in moving the dial on ethnic diversity in leadership has been less encouraging.”

“To ensure lasting change, retailers must continue to put their heads above the parapet to drive forward initiatives and commit to building work environments that are truly inclusive, particularly with the backdrop of today’s geopolitical environment.”

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Inclusivity will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, which are now open for entries, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.