UKGI MD Delivers DE&I Speech at Female Alliance in Business Conference

With over 100 allies in attendance at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham, UKGI MD, Nikki Bennett, was delighted to be invited to speak at the first Female Alliance in Business live event hosted by The Clear Group earlier this month. 

Nikki's inspirational speech on the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in the insurance industry was part of a packed day-long agenda, that also saw UKGI's Head of Commercial, Tom Wood, take part in a panel discussion titled, 'empowering women in a male dominated industry'. 

The agenda also saw speeches and presentations from a variety of presenters including Clear Group CEO, Mike Edgeley, Miss Menopause, and Aviva FD, Jane Poole, as well as breakout sessions from Zurich and RSA. 

The event was a celebration of how far the industry has come in positively influencing diversity across insurance, while recognising that there is still more work to be done to keep the conversation going and to lead the positive changes needed. 

"UKGI's mission here is clear: to inspire and promote DE&I awareness in the insurance sector," says Nikki, "It is fundamentally wrong in this day and age for people to be disadvantaged. Full stop. Whether that disadvantage is based on gender or not, it's time that we worked together to dismantle those barriers and cultivate an inclusive culture where everyone, including insurance customers, feel welcome, respected and valued."

Nikki's speech looked at the importance of diversity across a range of inequalities such as gender, disability, culture, race, religion and sexual orientation, with a call to action for a faster pace of change from industry leaders and allies.

This sentiment was echoed by Tom, who adds: "I was delighted to be invited to speak on the panel discussion. For these initiatives to make a real impact, then it's important that men are part of the conversation and that we listen to, empower, and champion women in our industry. It needs all of us to think more about inclusion, to call out bad behaviours and to grow this movement as quickly as we can. If more men can take part in these discussions, then much needed change will happen faster. That can only be a good thing. I learned so much from the day, and I will keep paying it forward."

UKGI continues to support DE&I initiatives across its consultancy and education work, and we look forward to taking part in more events in the future.