The British Property Federation (BPF) has announced the launch of its diversity & inclusivity board.
BPF junior vice president David Partridge, managing partner of Argent, will lead the board, which will comprise experts from inside and outside the property sector.
Board members will include Piali Das Gupta, head of policy at Solace; Jill Pett, partner and executive coach at The Alexander Partnership; Matthew Powell, chief executive at Breaking Barriers; and Kemi Oguntoye, consultant at SAY Property Consulting.
The board will build on the BPF’s campaign to create a culture of equality and inclusion within the sector, attracting and retaining a broad range of talent. Its launch will coincide with the launch of the BPF Diversity and Inclusivity Champions Network, which is recruiting members to share best practices and drive further change.
Patridge said: “As a business sector, we must be able to respond to everything that our customers, our investors and society quite rightly demand of us. Our sector is vital to the UK’s success – but to maintain our role as an enabler of economic and social prosperity, improving how we recruit and retain talent is necessary.
“The BPF’s Diversity & Inclusivity Advisory Board will hold our strategy to account and seek to deliver progressive change throughout the property sector.”
Melanie Leech, chief executive of the BPF, said: “We are committed to a long-term programme working with our partners to help achieve this goal and to support our members in sharing best practice across our sector. Becoming a business sector that better reflects the diversity of the communities we serve is not only the right thing to do, it is business critical.”
In May 2017, the BPF launched its statement of principles in which it committed to supporting leaders in LGBT+, gender, socio-economic and disability diversity. The BPF’s industry partner on diversity and inclusivity is Revo, and it is establishing a partnership with the John O’Halloran initiative on mental health in the property industry, supported by Lionheart.
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