Britvic has today announced that it is one of the first 100 companies to sign Change the Race Ratio, a campaign founded by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) to increase racial and ethnic diversity within business.
As a Change the Race Ratio signatory, Britvic is committed to meaningful and measurable targets to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace for its employees. Britvic will track its progress against the following targets and, from next year, will publish updates in its annual report:
- Increase racial and ethnic diversity among Board members, with at least one racially diverse Board member by 2024
- Increase racial and ethnic diversity in senior leadership, with 10% of senior leadership roles held by Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees in Great Britain and Ireland by 2025
- Improve transparency through ethnicity pay gap reporting
- Create an inclusive culture in which talent from all diversities can thrive
Simon Litherland, Chief Executive Officer at Britvic, said: “The Change the Race Ratio campaign is crucial to helping drive diverse leadership across UK business. At Britvic we are dedicated to establishing an inclusive culture and a diverse working environment.
“Our targets, set out today, are the next step in our journey to become an increasingly diverse company. I am delighted that we are signing up to the campaign.”
Today’s announcement is the latest progress Britvic has made towards the delivery of its wider Healthier People strategy, through which Britvic is dedicated to building an inclusive and diverse working environment.
Last year, Britvic established B-Diverse, a network championing Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees with a founding commitment to increase diversity in leadership.
Lois Brown, chair and founding member of B-Diverse, said: “Last year, as a company we celebrated Black History Month by listening and learning – This year we celebrate Black History Month with action!
“As a child I would attend museums and galleries which featured statues and paintings representing the amazing achievements accomplished throughout history by white people. The statues and paintings of people that looked like me were almost always in chains or off to the side serving. This wasn’t only damaging for someone of colour, but it also played into the myth that great achievers look a certain way.
“Through the work that we’ve been doing on B-Diverse, Britvic has agreed that we need to dispel this myth and demonstrate diversity at all levels – so all people feel they belong and can achieve throughout the organisation.”
Education is fundamental to B-Diverse’s aims and Britvic’s Healthier People strategy and, in the last year, the company has encouraged all employees to educate themselves further on the topic of anti-racism and strive to become better advocates.
Through its B-Diverse network, a selection of useful TED Talks, books, podcasts and reports are available to all employees as well as a wide range of learning modules on topics including Black History and Windrush.
B-Diverse also hosts regular events allowing employees to mark religious and cultural celebrations together. So far these have included Chanukah, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Diwali, Eid, Ramadan and Vaisakhi.
Britvic has also updated its Responsible Marketing Code to ensure that its advertising reflects the richness of the markets and communities it operates in and promotes diversity and inclusion within society.
Photo caption: (From left to right) Britvic colleagues and B-Diverse members Nitesh Patel, Asha Rödel, Lois Brown, Krish Parmar and Andrew John.
For further information please contact:
Jon Harrington
Corporate Communications Manager
+44 (0)7808 098682
pressoffice@britvic.com