Diversity, inclusion and being a voice for all women has always been at the heart of the Stylist brand. Yet as CEO of The Stylist Group, I can say that our business is not diverse enough. Not diverse enough for the city we work in and not diverse enough for the brand we represent. 

Changing this is a huge priority for me. But now that change must accelerate. We cannot, and will not, maintain the status quo.

Today Stylist is 21% BAME, 4.5% black. 

Stylist is a London-based business and using the government statistics, London is 40% BAME. Going forward, 40% is our benchmark. 

4.5% of our employees are black and we need more black voices in our business. Going forward, 15% is our benchmark. 

There are a number of steps we are taking to ensure the company and the Stylist brand is representative of the audience it serves:

• We will look at our contributor pool often to ensure more contributions from black women and women of colour. Never less than 50% of our commissions on every platform.

• We will actively look to recruit women of colour to sit on the Stylist board which is now 50% female but is white.

• Stylist is signing the Race at Work Charter.

• We are appointing a Champion for Diversity and Inclusion to work with all levels of the business and ensure the culture is centred on inclusivity and belonging, taking learnings from the companies that are doing it well.

• All staff will be equipped with training to understand how to support equality in the workplace, as this is the responsibility of all leaders and managers.

• We will actively support the careers of black and BAME employees with mentoring, reverse mentoring and sponsorship.

• We will record, measure and publish our progress every year and be transparent with information whenever asked. 

As we strive to do better ourselves, we will keep the conversation going and encourage everyone to be part of the change. 

- Ella Dolphin, CEO The Stylist Group