Inclusion and Diversity

In January 2005, we launched our Inclusion and Diversity Vision setting out  how we will develop and operate our business in a way that results in a more inclusive and diverse culture. We believe this will enable us to attract and retain the best people, improve our effectiveness, deliver superior performance and enhance the success of the company.

We want to ensure all our employees, regardless of race, gender, nationality, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion and background, have the opportunity to develop to their full potential. We will prevent artificial or prejudicial barriers from getting in the way of their development.

We believe fostering diversity is everyone's responsibility; open, honest and respectful communication is the cornerstone of good business; and, a positive approach to Inclusion & Diversity is not a 'nice to have' but is fundamentally the right thing to do for us as a business.

We are fortunate to have vibrant employee networks, focusing on gender, ethnicity and faith, disability, sexual orientation and new starters. They are helping us to understand better the different communities represented within our workforce and to provide support and information to our employees.

In addition to the inclusion and diversity steering group that advises the Executive Committee on overall strategy and policy, we have created action councils in the UK and the US to help to coordinate initiatives in each of our locations, to identify new initiatives and to ensure consistency across lines of business. Progress in achieving our goals is monitored as part of our regular performance review process.

At 31 March 2008, 22.5% of our employees were female and 12.3% were from black and minority ethnic groups. This reflects the acquisition of KeySpan and so is not directly comparable with prior years. Excluding KeySpan, the proportions were 23.4% and 7.4% respectively, compared with 23.7% and 7.3% respectively at 31 March 2007 and with 23.4% and 6.7% respectively at 31 March 2006.