Driving towards diversity and inclusivity at work

British Gas van with Pride flag.

At Centrica, we want everyone to be treated equally and fairly. Our mission is to be open and inclusive for all – regardless of colour, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or culture. And not just behind closed doors, but in everything we do and everywhere we go.

Green isn’t the only colour we pride ourselves on

Since 2020, we’ve ordered 3,000 new fully electric Vauxhall Vivaro-e vans . They run exclusively on electricity and are totally ‘green’. But look closer and you’ll see there’s a whole spectrum of colour on show.

On some of these vans, you’ll see the re-imagined pride flag by artist Daniel Quasar. Alongside the six colours of the traditional rainbow flag, this new design also includes additional colours to represent LGBT people from ethnic minorities, trans people and those living with HIV/AIDS. It symbolises diversity of all kinds, so next time you see that colourful flag driving past, remember it’s our promise to continue to drive forward our mission to be open and inclusive for all.

Find out more about Daniel Quasar’s flag and what it means
The progress pride flag designed by artist Daniel Quasar.

Flying the flag for inclusivity

Colourful words mean nothing without action. That’s why we’ve set up 13 employee networks to represent minority groups. These help action real change to make our workplace a more inclusive space for everyone to thrive in and be themselves.

+ Network
Centrica’s LGBTQ+ network for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer + employees, created to make it easier for everyone to bring their whole selves to work, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Under its umbrella is the Bród Network for the Bord Gáis LBGT+ community – Bród is the Irish word for pride.

VOICE Network
Open to everyone, VOICE stands for Valuing Our Identity, Culture and Ethnicity and this network seeks to break barriers, increase awareness and gain allies through open conversations about race and ethnicity.

Centrica Women’s Network and Centrica Women’s Network Bord Gáis
Helping all women in the company to be their best by acknowledging and addressing the challenges they face, as well as providing a support system for personal and professional growth.

Diversability Network, Neurodiversity Network and The Fertility Sanctuary
A family of networks celebrating the physiological and neurological diversity among our colleagues and providing the support they need to thrive at work, as well as raising awareness of invisible illnesses and personal struggles.

Carers Network
Established in 2004 to help make colleagues aware of all the help available to balance work with their caring commitments, as well as guiding and advising line managers on how best to support them.

Forces Network
A group of colleagues across all areas of Centrica who have served or are serving reservists in the Armed Forces, military spouses and partners as well as those interested in supporting them.

Working Parents Network
An online meeting place to support colleagues with children, regardless of their family set-up or ethnic or cultural background. It communicates the help that Centrica offers, as well as influencing policy making.

Pride in the work that we do.

Our diversity initiatives are achieving results

Thanks to the hard work of our employee networks, and support from all our employees, we’ve created several initiatives that have begun to make real change. Changes that have helped us be recognised as one of The Times Top 50 Employers for Women and a leading 100 UK company in the CCLA Mental Health Benchmark in 2022. Our initiatives include:

Trans Awareness Week
We’ve organised events to raise awareness and educate our colleagues about important LGBTQ+ issues.

Our People and Planet Plan
We’ve set targets to provide career development opportunities and drive greater representation for female, ethnic minority, disability, LGBTQ+ and ex-service personnel. We’re aiming to recruit 3,500 apprentices by 2030 (that’s the equivalent of one a day!) and we want half of them to be women. We’re removing bias from recruitment with diverse shortlists and recruitment agencies, and delivering unconscious bias training for all colleagues.

Closing the gender pay gap
In 2022, our pay gap reduced, and we’re fully committed to building on this through targeted action and creating an engaged team that reflects the full diversity of our communities by 2030.

Tech She Can Charter
We’ve signed up to this commitment by organisations to increase the number of women working in technology roles.

Career Accelerator
Following the success of last year’s collaborative scheme with youth social enterprise Career Accelerator to provide a mentoring programme for young people who are registered as SEND (having Special Educational Needs or Disability), the scheme is running again this year. It enables Centrica colleagues to support these young people with help about career options as well as building self-awareness and self-confidence

Tech Talent Charter
We’ve signed up to this which aims to address the UK’s tech talent shortage and diversity problem through collective action.

Carers UK Ambassador
We are one of only 4 UK employers who hold Carers UK’s ‘Ambassador’ accreditation. And according to Carers UK, we have the best Carers Leave Policy in the UK. And we’re supporting carers outside our organisation by actively working to progress the Carer’s Leave Bill through parliament.

Let's keep encouraging inclusivity and make equality a reality
We’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but we know this is just the beginning. An organisation as big as Centrica has a responsibility to pave the way and be true leaders on all issues of inclusivity. Most importantly we genuinely want to make equality a reality in our business. It’s going to be an exciting road ahead and everyone’s welcome to join us on the journey.

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Additional information

  1. Our electric vehicle van fleet roll-out - British Gas