Coventry Building Society: advancing supply chain diversity

• Uncategorized
• Race Equality
• Healthy_Business
• Diversity and Inclusion

At Business in the Community (BITC), we believe that employers should ensure Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse owned businesses are part of their supply chain contracts. This is commitment seven of our Race at Work Charter.

Coventry Building Society is the second largest building society based in the UK, with the purpose of making people better off through life and being an inclusive and inspiring place to work.

Since signing the Race at Work Charter in 2021, the business has focused its ethnicity ambitions on increasing the representation of Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse employees.

Key examples include developing an Ethnicity Career Development Programme, with 42 colleagues participating to date and over 15 of those having progressed in their career since starting on the programme and creating an Ethnicity in Hiring Working Group in 2023, to ensure that its talent acquisition strategy supports its Race Equality goals.

As a next step, Coventry Building Society was keen to demonstrate its commitment to Commitment seven of the Race at Work Charter, through its Sustainable Procurement Policy.

The business believes that ethnically diverse businesses contribute to the diversity of thought in supply chains and that the knowledge held by these business owners can help Coventry Building Society understand its current and potential customers better. A Sustainable Procurement Working Group was formed, to drive Diversity and Inclusion and carbon improvement activities.

Hear from Head of Supplier Relationship Management Rebecca Howard and Executive Sponsor for D&I Rachel Macfarlane on why they believe diversity is valuable and essential in creating successful teams and relationships between businesses.

What challenges did Coventry Building Society face?

Improving access for ethnically diverse-led firms was challenging, as the business doesn’t publish tender opportunities on its consumer website. To add to this, the opportunities currently provided were too large for SME organisations.

To address this, the organisation partnered with Kaleida, a B2B marketplace that connects ethnically diverse-led firms with corporate buyers, to publish upcoming projects.

It also runs an annual in-person networking event for ethnically diverse, small and local business owners in the West Midlands, with the goal of improving knowledge around corporate procurement processes and policies, as well as signposting potential future opportunities.

Coventry Building Society has seen huge success through its approach, as 21% of its supply base is now led by diverse firms. The organisation has since made a public statement of its commitment to ethical sourcing and supplier management with CIPS Corporate Ethics.

What advice would Coventry Building Society give to another organisation?

Coventry Building Society believes race equality can only be furthered if colleagues are also on board. A key approach for the business has been to welcome colleague networks, including those created for Black, Asian, Mixed Race and other ethnically diverse employees, to proactively plan and provide safe spaces for discussion and personal growth.

The networks have established initiatives and events to educate, celebrate and exchange experiences with all colleagues. The growth of these networks and their allies has been a key enabler in all colleagues feeling they understand and support the progression of race equality within the organisation.

The Race at Work Charter asks businesses to make a public commitment to improving equality of opportunity in the workplace.

Make race equality a priority today

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