National diversity accreditation sign up – a first for the UK nuclear sector

The Programme and Project Partners at Sellafield are proud to announce they have signed up to undertake the Investors in Diversity accreditation from the National Centre for Diversity (NCD).

The partnership is the first in the nuclear sector to pursue the diversity award and hopes to set a precedent for many others to follow.

The accreditation is recognised as the national equality standard providing organisations with a bespoke approach to embedding equality, diversity, inclusion and fairness in all that it does.

The programme focuses on the NCD’s FREDIE principles – fairness, respect, equality, diversity, inclusion and engagement.

The Programme and Project Partners currently have a team of around 1,400 people drawn from the partner organisations and is 3 years into a 20-year contract. The team is set to increase to 1,900 people over the next year.

Programme and Project Partners managing director, Duncan Elliott said:

We’re almost 3 years into our partnership and recognise we can do more to promote equality, diversity and inclusion across our team.

The Investors in Diversity accreditation will provide us with a framework to create an environment where all our employees can thrive and one which attracts the talent we need to deliver some of the UK’s most challenging infrastructure projects.

We cannot reach our full potential without maximising the talents of all and we’re 100% committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion across the programme. This is a positive step forward for our partnership, our employees, the talent we will attract and the wider nuclear sector.

The partners first step in working towards the accreditation will be to conduct a workforce wide cultural audit to establish where it is right now in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion, and then, where it wants to be.

Solat Chaudhry, chief executive of the National Centre for Diversity, said:

For us the most critical element of diversity is not where businesses are on your journey, it’s where they want to be.

By undertaking the accreditation, the partners are demonstrating their commitment to improving levels of fairness, respect, equity, diversity, inclusion and engagement.

Working towards the accreditation award is a visible internal and external sign that the partners are committed to achieving sustainable, meaningful positive action. We look forward to working together.

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