Why a diverse workforce is both a social and business imperative

'Manifesting Sustainability' is a series of insight features exclusively for Walpole readers and members, developed in partnership with Walpole Associate Partners, FINN Luxe – the dedicated luxury offering of FINN Partners. Embracing the “global boutique” model, FINN Luxe offers integrated communications solutions across lifestyle sectors including travel and hospitality, design, F&B, beauty, fashion, jewellery, watches, automotive, and art.

In today’s climate of DEI rollbacks and rising geopolitical tensions, diversity and inclusion are at risk of being sidelined. National Inclusion Week in September was a timely reminder of the value of creating workplaces where everyone is respected and feels they belong. It calls on organisations to engage people from all backgrounds and celebrate the richness of diverse communities.

Businesses have the power and the opportunity to meet this challenge. By building workforces that reflect the customers they serve and by championing historically underrepresented groups, they can drive meaningful social change while also strengthening their own organisations, creating more effective, resilient, and future-ready businesses.

Walpole has set a clear aspiration: to achieve 50% representation of underrepresented groups in senior management and to embed inclusivity throughout the luxury sector. This ambition is not abstract – it is being translated into tangible action, demonstrated by the work of its members such as Bentley and OutThere, and is supported by strategic partners including The Outsiders Perspective and Minority Report Group.

Tackling bias and barriers

In championing inclusivity, businesses have the opportunity to lift historically underrepresented groups in their workforce, create opportunities for those facing systemic barriers and harness the skills of diverse talent.

In its 2024 UK Fashion DEI Report, The Outsiders Perspective found that just 9% of executive roles and 11% of power roles in fashion (CEO, CFO, Chairperson, Creative Director) are held by people of colour. Meanwhile, 39% of executive teams and 24% of power roles are occupied by women.

To increase the representation of people of colour across the luxury, fashion, beauty, and wider consumer industries, The Outsiders Perspective provides an accelerator programme that equips professionals of colour from high-performing alternate industries to transition into the industry and provides their brand partners with a skilled and diverse pool of talent.

Industry-wide progress relies on specialist partners who challenge bias and help businesses embed inclusive practices. One such organisation is the Minority Report Group (MRG), which partners with companies to support their DEI journey.

Since its launch in 2020, MRG has designed and delivered tailored mentoring programmes that have supported over 400 individuals from diverse backgrounds and communities to thrive. These programmes not only provide participants with structured guidance from experienced professionals, but also drive company-wide progress – boosting employee engagement, retention, and loyalty by demonstrating a genuine commitment to developing diverse talent.

As well as facilitating mentoring programmes, MRG has developed a series of impactful workshops, talks and panels that extend beyond surface-level training. Engaging employees at all levels, these programmes encourage deep reflection and equip participants with actionable strategies, reshaping how organisations understand and approach DEI. MRG also launched the Conversations for Change Summit this year, which will now be an annual gathering of leading voices and bold thinkers shaping the future of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Embedding inclusion into business strategy

In the auto sector, Bentley is on a journey to become the most diverse luxury car manufacturer in the world – where belonging isn’t just a value, but a lived experience. Through its BelongingAtBentley initiative, the company is embedding Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) into every layer of its organisation.

As part of the Beyond100+ strategy, Bentley has set clear targets to increase diversity in leadership roles by 2030. Through five thriving colleague-led DEI networks – consisting of over 750 colleagues – Bentley is actively shaping policies and culture through the principles of “inform, include, and improve”. Through these networks – BeReady, BeAccessible, BeUnited, BeProud and BeInspired - the company addresses growth opportunities in health, wellbeing, removing barriers for colleagues with disabilities and advancing gender equality, among others. These networks ensure that inclusion is not a side initiative, but an integral part of the business strategy. And they’re yielding encouraging results: from 2022 to Q3 2025, women in senior management roles rose from 16% to 20.8%.

Reflecting a workforce spanning 59 nationalities, the company has also shared its philosophy of #BelongingAtBentley externally: in celebration of its commitment to diversity and inclusion, Bentley unveiled the Belonging Bentayga art piece during National Inclusion Week 2023. Hand-painted by Stephen Wiltshire MBE on an Alpine Green Bentayga Hybrid, the work features 29 landmarks from around the world, with each side of the car representing a different continent.

Together, these initiatives not only safeguard equal opportunities but also foster an environment where every employee feels valued, respected, and empowered to bring their authentic selves to work.

Shining a light on the changemakers

The media also have their part to play. OutThere, a luxury and experiential travel media brand – and Walpole Member – was created predominantly with diversity and inclusion in mind, filling a much-needed gap in tourism storytelling. As such, inclusive practices are core to its operating model.

"While progress has been made in recent years, the bar for diverse representation in luxury travel remains low – from storytelling and marketing, to day-to-day operations,” says Uwern Jong, OutThere’s co-Founder and Experientialist®-in-Chief.

"This often leaves many affluent travellers from underrepresented backgrounds feeling overlooked. This gap persists largely because the industry still lacks the awareness of just how essential true, and non-performative inclusivity is. This is a change that can only really be driven from within and from a genuine understanding of the lived experience of diverse communities. And although the travel sector is one of the most diverse in terms of its workforce, that inclusivity rarely extends to the C-suite, where representation is still lacking. Our own research shows that 62% of employees in hospitality and tourism feel that there is far more that needs to be done when it comes to levelling the playing field in their companies."

Building on these findings, OutThere sought to catalyse industry-wide action. In 2024, the brand launched its landmark, annual Icons of Inclusion thought-leadership event, designed to highlight practical steps that tourism and luxury travel leaders can take to deliver more equitable, representative, intersectional and intercultural narratives in storytelling, sales, marketing and operations.

This outward focus was matched by action at the community level. The same year, OutThere’s Experientialist®-in-Chief and Walpole Power List 2025 honouree Jong raised £15,000 for tourism-related, community-driven charities and not-for-profits through their Experientialist Awards programme, which champions purpose, representation and inclusion in tourism. The two main prize winners were initiatives that trained underprivileged youth in Indonesia and Nepal respectively, to rise through the ranks in hospitality.

These initiatives prove the power of inclusion in shaping culture and opportunity. But its impact doesn’t stop there: diversity is also an economic driver, shaping competitiveness, productivity and long-term business resilience.

The economic case for inclusion

Inclusivity in the workplace is more than a social imperative – it is also an economic one. By opening doors for groups historically excluded from opportunity, organisations can unlock immense value for the company and the economy at large.

In the latest instalment of Walpole’s Inclusive Luxury series, guest speaker and Global Chief Economist for UBS Wealth, Paul Donovan – author of Profit and Prejudice: The Luddites of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – explored the importance of building more inclusive businesses. Donovan argued that, as we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is an era defined by automation, digitisation, social media, and AI, society is encountering both new technologies and the challenges they bring. To maximise the potential of these technologies, Donovan explained that broad participation is required as progress depends not only on new tools, but on who is able to use them.

Indeed, the evidence suggests that a diverse workforce is both more productive and more economically resilient. Donovan notes that a monocultural workforce fosters a monoculture of thought, limiting perspective and innovation. When teams are composed of individuals from a single group or demographic, they risk overlooking challenges, missing opportunities, and ultimately stagnating in a complex and fast-changing world. By contrast, diverse teams draw on a wider range of experiences and viewpoints, strengthening decision-making and broadening understanding. These are all advantages that are particularly valuable during periods of significant economic and structural change.

The 2022 Department for Work and Pensions employer survey shows that 80% of UK employers already recognise the benefits of a diverse workforce – and global research reinforces this point. McKinsey’s 2023 report on the business case for diversity shows that companies in the top quartile for ethnic representation have a 39% greater likelihood of financial outperformance compared to those in the bottom quartile. The report also highlights that organisations with more than 30% female representation on their executive teams are significantly more likely to outperform those with 30% or fewer. In addition, companies with high ethnic diversity enjoy, on average, a 27% financial advantage over less diverse peers.

By prioritising diversity, companies also preserve their competitive edge in a crowded marketplace. In its 2024 DEI report, The Outsiders Perspective found that fostering a workplace culture where employees from all backgrounds feel they belong can reduce turnover by 50%. The report also revealed that 39% of global job seekers have turned down a role due to a perceived lack of inclusion.

When considering these factors, it becomes clear that inclusion is a critical priority for unlocking the full spectrum of human capital, and with it, the innovations that will boost economic growth and shape our future toward innovation and opportunity.

The future of inclusion and diversity: a collective challenge

While there is still progress to be made in building a future that truly prioritises diversity and inclusion – and in realising the benefits that follow – the luxury sector has already begun this journey. As we enter the next stage of industrial enterprise and transformation, the evidence suggests that meeting these new and varied challenges requires input from all, supported by an environment and culture where everyone feels included.

To learn more about how Walpole’s members are championing diversity and inclusion, and to explore the full set of pillars and aspirations guiding our members toward more sustainable and inclusive operations, read the Walpole British Luxury Sustainability Manifesto.

About Minority Report Group

Launched by brand and marketing specialist Daniel Peters, the Minority Report Group works with its clients and partners to shift the dial on DE&I to a point of measurable change. The consultancy delivers tailored strategies and change programmes and facilitates talks and workshops to raise subject matter knowledge. Minority Report Group is also anchored by its work in the fashion industry and creative sector, as the (Fashion) Minority Report CIC, which is a career and learning development resource to support underrepresented talent in the field. minorityreportgroup.com

About The Outsiders Perspective

The Outsiders Perspective is transforming the luxury, fashion, beauty and wider consumer industries by providing unparalleled access to the world's best talent. With a focus on aligning the workforce to the changing consumer landscape, they specialise in connecting innovative future leaders to their clients' evolving needs.

Founded in 2022 by British Indian fashion executive Jamie Gill, The Outsiders Perspective's launch service is their Accelerator Programme. A programme designed to empower highly skilled professionals of colour from alternate industries to seamlessly transition, bringing new perspectives and driving commercial growth.

The Outsiders Perspective’s Executive Search offering identifies exceptional senior talent across markets and industries from mid-management to c-suite level — bold, future-facing leaders who unlock long-term business value. It goes beyond the usual networks to deliver individuals with the cultural fluency and strategic acumen to help brands lead in a fast-changing world.

The Outsiders Perspective operates internationally and is a trusted partner to Burberry, Business of Fashion, Chanel, dunhill, Harrods, Lululemon, Puig, Tiffany & Co. and many more. theoutsidersperspective.org

About OutThere

OutThere is the multi-award-winning luxury travel and lifestyle media brand dedicated to experiential journeys rooted in diversity, discovery and discernment. With a focus on inclusivity, authenticity, purpose and representation in its storytelling, OutThere curates global travel inspiration for discerning, intersectional travellers, showcasing extraordinary destinations, unique experiences, and the people and voices that celebrate difference.

Beyond the pages of the magazine, OutThere also champions representation in luxury travel, working with industry partners to drive meaningful change, to ensure that everyone feels they truly belong. outthere.travel