Page 3 – Business in the Community

Nick Potter

Nick Potter

Acting CEO,

Simplyhealth
South East Leadership Board

Nick Potter joined Simplyhealth in 2021 as Chief Financial Officer, and in February 2023, Nick stepped into the role as Acting CEO. Over the past 20 years Nick, a Chartered Accountant (ACA), has specialised in the healthcare industry working in the UK and internationally at Bupa, Sanitas Hospital Division and Aetna International. During his career, Nick has worked across commercial, finance, M&A, restructuring, audit and risk, while serving on multiple main Board and sub-committees, including Chair of Audit Committee.

Simplyhealth is a founding member of the British Chambers of Commerce’s Business Council. The Business Council is designing and driving the Future of the Economy initiative, looking at how it can positively shape economic growth at a national level. Nick is a member of the People and Work challenge group, that will develop a comprehensive plan to reform the labour market and tackle skills shortages, considering the positive impact that workplace health support can play. Nick believes passionately about the role of business as a force for good in society – balancing people, planet and profit equitably. This is one of reasons Nick has joined the Business in the Community (BITC) South East Leadership Board.

Roxanne Ratcliff

An image of Roxanne Ratcliff smiling at the camera.

Roxanne Ratcliff

Head of Corporate Responsibility,

Burges Salmon
South West Leadership Board

Roxanne is Head of Corporate Responsibility in the people team at Burges Salmon. She is responsible for framing and driving the firm’s responsible business agenda and contributing to the firm’s work on ESG, net-zero and inclusive employment. In addition to leading on the firm’s own ESG performance Roxanne advises and collaborates with clients as a senior sustainability professional.

Roxanne is a member of the Responsible Business Committee, the Community Impact Committee, the Environment Committee and the Diversity and Inclusion Group. She represents the firm in a number of external forums in relation to responsible business and sustainability.

Roxanne has a breadth of experience as a senior sustainability professional and leader within the people team. She shapes strategy and leads a team that covers sustainability reporting, benchmark participation, ESG assessment, diversity and inclusion, social mobility, business and human rights, community impact, stakeholder engagement and select environmental projects.

Prior to joining Burges Salmon in 2019, Roxanne was on the management team of an award-winning sustainability consultancy delivering projects across Europe for international brands. She developed responsible business approaches that were purpose-led and contributed to research for the UN, UKGOV and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Roxanne joined the Business in the Community (BITC) South West Leadership Board because, “BITC is a powerhouse of change, harnessing business strength to tackle the most pertinent ESG issues in our communities. Being part of the Board allows me to utilise my knowledge of local need and solutions to shape this change, whilst also allowing me to learn from a cohort of incredibly motivated and innovative business leaders around the table.”

The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality 2024

Applications for the 2024 listing have now closed – results will be announced in June.


The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality is the UK’s most highly profiled and well-established listing of employers taking action to create workplaces where everyone, regardless of gender, can thrive.

The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality is the most in-depth benchmark of organisational practice to improve workplace gender equality in the UK. Organisations that make the top 50 list prove themselves to be leaders in gender inclusion.

Women and minoritised genders are disproportionately affected in times of greater political and economic uncertainty, as gender inequalities deeply entrenched in working life have a greater impact. At a time when the UK continues to experience a cost of living crisis, women are paid less, are more likely to be employed in severely insecure work and have less access to highly paid, highly skilled roles due to the need of more women having to balance work and caring responsibilities. As such, the need for employer intervention to ensure greater gender equality and avoid a backslide in progress has never been greater.

Any employer with a UK presence and activity is eligible, and entries from all sectors and sizes of business are welcomed each year.

The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality 2024 will be featured in a national supplement published in Summer 2024. You can read the 2023 digital supplement here.

Download The Times Top 50 Employers for Women Insights Report 2023 for a scorecard on how employers are doing in their efforts to create gender equal workplaces. 

Timelines

The final list will be announced in June 2024 and will feature in a national communications campaign, including a print and digital supplement. A celebratory event will be held.

Why organisations take part

  • Boost reputation as a sought-after place to work
  • Increase public profile
  • Celebrate the impact of the organisations approach to gender equality on individuals, business, and society as a whole
  • Demonstrate best practice in a variety of key issue areas that impact women and other minoritised genders
  • Participants receive feedback on their application (whether they make the top 50 list or not) and will be presented with measures to improve their approach to championing gender equality at work

What do previous applicants say? 

  • 93% agree that it enhances their organisation’s profile.
  • 86% agree that it pushes their organisation to do better.
  • 79% agree that it helps identify strategy, drive engagement internally, and highlight best practice.
  • 73% agree that it helps their organisation to attract talent. 
KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST FROM
THE TIMES TOP 50 EMPLOYERS FOR GENDER EQUALITY

Further information

Frequently Asked Questions

Read our FAQs

Application Guidance Notes

For full application details, download our Application Guidance Notes.

Contact

For any questions, contact The Times Top 50 team.

Need some inspiration? Listen to our podcast

The Lens UK Responsible Business Podcast brings together a global business leader and an emerging future leader for an open and unscripted conversation. It will challenge the way you think about responsible business.

– Ulster University and Voicing Voices: Creating human-centred workplaces

– Danske Bank and Google: workplace inclusion – why every voice must be heard

– Verizon Business and Bayer: When our people win, everyone wins

Last year’s awards

About Business in the Community’s (BITC) work on gender equality 

The Times Top 50 for Gender Equality has been led by BITC for 14 years. Achieving a truly gender-balanced workforce means employers must recruit and progress the best talent irrespective of gender.  

The commercial imperative for realising women’s potential in the workplace is clear: gender equality enhances employee engagement, boosts productivity, meets the diverse needs of customers and suppliers, and improves brand reputation.  

Learn more about how BITC can help you create a more gender equal workplace.

Peter Harrison

Peter Harrison sitting at a table.

Peter Harrison

Group Chief Executive,

Schroders
Chair, Business in the Community Board of Trustee Directors

Peter Harrison has served as Group Chief Executive of Schroders, a British multinational asset management company with over 200 years of expertise, since 2016.

He had initially joined Schroders in 1988 as a graduate, before holding senior roles at investment boutique RWC Partners (Chairman and CEO), JP Morgan Asset Management (Head of Global Equities), and Deutsche Asset Management (Group Chief Investment Officer). He re-joined Schroders in 2013 as Global Head of Equities, and also served as Global Head of Investment before being appointed as Group Chief Executive.

Peter is a member of the Board of Directors of the Investment Association and FCLT Global, a member of the Advisory Board of the venture capital firm Antler Global, and a member of the London Stock Exchange’s UK Capital Markets Industry Taskforce.

He is also a member of HM Treasury’s Asset Management Taskforce, and a member of the Leadership Council of both TheCityUK and the International Business and Diplomatic Exchange.

Peter was previously Chair of the Investment Association, and sat on the Takeover Panel and the Prime Minister’s Financial and Professional Services’ Business Council. He is widely engaged in improving inclusion and diversity across financial institutions.

Peter Harrison joined Business in the Community (BITC) as Chair and Trustee in January 2024.

Phil Mayall

Phil Mayall

Managing Director,

Muse
Place Taskforce

Phil Mayall is Managing Director of nationwide placemaker, Muse. He is a member of the Morgan Sindall Group Management Team and Board Director for The English Cities Fund, a £200 million mixed-use regeneration vehicle owned by Muse, Legal & General and Homes England.

Phil has overall responsibility for Muse’s portfolio of regeneration projects across the UK, creating mixed-use places with the emphasis on sustainability, community and quality. Its regional businesses are based in Manchester, Leeds, London and Birmingham.

Muse is currently working with partners in 36 places across the UK with close to 2,500 new homes and 968,400 sq ft of workspace currently on site, with a gross development value of over £1.34bn and a future development pipeline of £1.7bn. 

Muse is really passionate about ensuring that the work it does in creating places, delivers the maximum benefits possible to the local community. Phil believes that the Place Taskforce is an excellent way of ensuring that this is the case.

Business in the Communty’s place programme

Business in the Community’s (BITC) Place Programme is about bringing everyone together in a place to act collaboratively. To act on long-term goals, based on a common agreement of the challenges, opportunities and solutions and drawing on the strengths of everyone in that community, whether they are a business, a community organisation or from the public sector.

Our mission

To facilitate meaningful connections between businesses, communities, and local councils to reset economic ambitions and collaborate on new, innovative solutions that will deliver long-term, transformative impact.

Ben Graff

Ben Graff

Group Head of Strategic Workforce Planning,

National Grid
Employment and Skills Leadership Team

Ben Graff is Head of Strategic Workforce Planning at National Grid, and has held various senior Strategy, Regulatory, Commercial and Corporate Affairs positions during his twenty-five years within the organisation. In his current role, Ben is determined to play his part in helping the business and society more generally to recruit, support, and retain the diverse workforce of the future. He is a great believer that we all have a part to play in ensuring that no one is left behind. Ben sees a strong read across between much of his day job and the sort of work and initiatives that Business in the Community (BITC) engage on and is excited to join the Employment and Skills Leadership Team.

Ben is a graduate of the University of Bristol where he read Law. He began his career on the National Grid Graduate Scheme and has been involved in numerous internal projects relating to Diversity, Inclusion and Social Mobility. He is a passionate champion of all such work and is keen to play a key role in supporting the BITC in these critical areas.

Ben is married and lives with his family in the Midlands. Ben has written three books and is also well known as a chess journalist in his spare time.

Rebekah Smallwood

Rebekah Smallwood in black and white

Rebekah Smallwood

Head of Organisational Development

Headlam PLC
East Midlands Leadership Board

Rebekah Smallwood is the Head of Organisational Development at Headlam PLC, and is responsible for Diversity and Inclusion, Wellbeing, Recruitment and Community.

Since joining Headlam in January 2023 Rebekah has established a Diversity and Inclusion strategy for the business, whilst enhancing the wellbeing support tools and resources available to colleagues. Rebekah has several years of experience in the Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing field, and previous to Headlam Rebekah worked at The Midcounties Cooperative as Head of Diversity and Inclusion, leading the development and delivery of their Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing strategy.

Tessa Fayers

Tessa Fayers

Operations Director

Thames Water
Gender Equality Leadership Team

As Operations Director for Thames Water, Tessa Fayers has a broad people leadership accountability spanning teams in Water and Wastewater operations, as well as logistics in Thames Water’s Thames Valley and Home Counties operating area. 

Having worked in male dominated industries most of her career, Tessa is passionate about advancing gender equality. She is a champion of diversity and inclusion; including active sponsorship roles in Women’s and Parent/Carer Employee Networks and advocating externally for Thames Water’s gender initiatives.

Tessa is proud of Thames Water’s commitment to improving the diversity of its workforce through an ambitious skills strategy and active involvement in initiatives such as Business in the Community’s (BITC’s) Opening Doors Campaign.

Outside of work, Tessa enjoys keeping active and enjoying time with family and friends. She lives in Berkshire with her husband and teenage daughter.

About Business in the Community’s Gender Equality Leadership Team

Each area of work Business in the Community (BITC) undertakes is led by a group of senior executives who provide strategic guidance and support us in achieving our objectives.

The purpose of BITC’s Gender Equality Leadership Team is to help ensure that women can achieve their full potential at work.

Find out more about BITC’s work on gender.

Susan Allen

Susan Allen

CEO,

Yorkshire Building Society

Susan Allen has worked in the Financial Services industry for over 25 years and has extensive experience across Retail Banking, Corporate Banking, Global Banking, Operations and strategic roles with a specific focus on transformation and business leadership.

Susan joined Yorkshire Building Society as CEO in March 2023 from Barclays where she was Head of Customer Transformation and a member of the Barclays UK Executive Committee.

Susan was previously the CEO of Retail & Business Banking at Santander UK and an Executive Director. Prior to joining Santander UK, Susan held a number of significant roles at RBS.

As a previous board member of UK Finance, in 2021, Susan was awarded an Honorary OBE for her services to the finance industry during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Throughout her career, Susan has been a champion of diversity and inclusion, being recognised by the British LGBT+ Award in 2020 for her corporate allyship with Santander’s LGBT+ network. Susan is on the Board of Trustees for the Alzheimer’s Society, contributing to the Society’s strategic direction and activities.

Matt Tebbett

Matt Tebbett smiling at the camera.

Matt Tebbett

Regional Lead – Midlands,

Hydrock
East Midlands Leadership Board

Matt Tebbett is the regional lead in the Midlands for Hydrock, a UK-based engineering, energy and sustainability consultancy.

He leads a team that has delivered a ground-breaking climate resilience study in 2023 for the University of Nottingham, working with the university to assess the exposure of its campuses to the long-term affects of climate change. Matt’s Midlands-based team has also previously delivered the ground engineering solutions for SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway and an 8.4ha (hectare) former Rolls Royce factory site at Osmaston, Derbyshire which is being redeveloped for vital housing provision in the region.

Matt’s family hail from the East Midlands and he spent a lot of his childhood in Mapperley and Netherfield, before graduating as a student from Nottingham Trent University.

In his career, he has had a long association with STEM activities. He has previously established a programme working with schools in disadvantaged areas, promoting presentation skills, CV writing, team work and adaptability. Matt joined Hydrock, attracted by the company’s purpose to be ‘a force for good’ and is delighted to be able to continue to give something back to local communities.