Statement on Black Lives Matter

Recent protests around the world against continuing injustice and inequality have given us all the opportunity to reflect on what more we can do as individuals and as an organisation to make sure that racism, and prejudice of any kind, is eradicated from every corner of our society.

We are committed to making sure our communities and our workplace are diverse, equal and inclusive, and places where every individual feels they belong and has the opportunity to succeed.

We recognise that this is a time for action and we’ll look at how Sovereign can really make a difference for our customers and our colleagues and be a force for positive change across all our communities.

That’s why we're reviewing our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy; setting our priorities for the next three years. We want to be a landlord and employer of choice and having a customer base and a workforce which is more reflective of the communities in which we operate can help us achieve this ambition.

We shared our initial thoughts with our colleagues this week about what we could do differently.  The response we received from our employees to that commitment was overwhelming, with so many of our people keen to be a part of this force for change.

 We've committed to:

• having more conversations with our BAME employees to understand what else we can do and get better at
• modernising our services to make sure they meet a diverse range of needs and are accessible to all, with a focus on those in vulnerable age groups, BAME and disabled people
• improving the profile and representation of all underrepresented groups at Sovereign, in particular BAME, LGBTQ+ and those with a disability.