This World Mental Health Day, we are taking the opportunity to highlight our collective responsibilities as employers, employees and individuals to help build businesses that are inclusive and diverse.

This year’s theme is workplace mental health and highlights the importance of addressing mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, for the benefit of people, organisations, and communities.

We are committed to enhancing diversity efforts across all underrepresented groups in our business and providing a safe and secure workplace for all because we recognise that having a diverse and equitable culture can lead to faster growth, productivity and innovation – ultimately creating more value for all stakeholders.

In our 2023 ESG Report, we delve into how we continue to improve the impact we have on our business, portfolio and community. Whilst we have made great progress, we know there is still more to do.

The report details on how we have made progress in some of the following areas:

• Organising training to ensure we create an inclusive culture for all colleagues at NorthEdge and across our portfolio, by gaining an understanding of different perspectives
• Continuing to prioritise the mental wellbeing of our colleagues through our partnership with Sanctus
• Sharing learnings and best practice through a range of resources and podcasts
• Running several initiatives to encourage a more diverse pipeline of talent into the Private Equity industry, including the 10,000 Black Interns Programme and NorthEdge’s Private Equity Challenge
• Participating in events and supporting initiatives with organisations such as 6% Club, Andy’s Man Club and Smart Works

Building an inclusive, diverse and equitable culture

Our DE&I strategy is focused on leading positive change in our business, portfolio and industry for a more equal future to drive long-term sustainable value. As detailed in our latest ESG Report, some of our highlights from 2023 include:

• Building an Inclusive Culture: We know that an inclusive culture is an important foundation for sustainable growth, which is why we encourage all of our portfolio companies to seek feedback and regularly assess engagement and wellbeing of their people. In 2023, 96% of our portfolio undertook a formal colleague survey (up from 86% in 2022), with the results showing an average Employee Net Promoter Score of +25. In addition, there are almost 100 mental health first aiders across the portfolio, to ensure that our people have the support they need to bring their best selves to work.

• A focus on Gender Diversity in the workplace: We are proud to report that in 2023 100% portfolio companies have a female colleague in the senior leadership team 2023 and that the average Gender Pay Gap across the NorthEdge portfolio was significantly lower than the UK average at 9.0%, vs. 14.3% (ONS 2023). NorthEdge also supported International Women’s Day and International Men’s Day with female-led networking events, podcast episodes featuring men’s mental health campaigners and volunteering activities at Smart Works – a UK charity that exists to give women the confidence they need to reach their full potential.

• A focus on Socio-economic Diversity in the workplace: In 2023, we were able to quantify the significant impact we have had, collectively with our portfolio, on economic and social development in the UK regions:
  • Contributed £844 million of GVA – with 61% of this contribution in the North, Midlands and ScotlandSupported c.11,500 jobs (FTEs) in the UK – with 28% of the employees in the NorthEdge portfolio coming from the 30% most deprived areas in the UK
  • Trained c.2,400 people to provide them with more skills and development opportunities
• Creating well-paid work in places with unemployment rates typically two or more times the national average and incomes just over half the UK mean is hugely impactful to the community and economy.

Read more about our approach to DE&I in our latest ESG Report, including how we have made a commitment to further educate ourselves to understand varying perspectives through our long-term diversity, equity and inclusion plan. We also share insights from our latest colleague survey, alongside efforts from across our business and portfolio as we continue collectively supporting our colleagues and communities.