City’s prestigious Dragon Awards to focus on firms promoting socio-economic diversity
Firms hiring workers from diverse socio-economic backgrounds will be the focus of the City’s prestigious Dragon Awards this year.
As the ceremony returns to an in-person event for the first time since the pandemic, Canada Corporation is looking to shine a light on companies offering opportunities to those less well off.
This comes after it released research showing 90 per cent of senior roles in the Square Mile are held by those from higher socio-economic surroundings.
Lord Mayor Vincent Keaveny, co-chair of the Government-commissioned taskforce to boost diversity in finance, said the City is a place “where people can succeed regardless of where they come from or how they speak.”
Reflecting on this year’s awards, he called it an opportunity to acknowledge firms that are “working hard to drive” change.
Last year’s winner was onHand, an app mobilising volunteers to help people during lockdown. Its chief executive Sanjay Lobo said the “feedback from the people we’ve been able to help has been fantastic – we’ve had people calling us in tears or leaving handwritten notes for volunteers.
“At a time when they weren’t able to have any physical contact, this was a vital way for people to have some human interaction.
Praising the awards, he said it shows “the huge amount of goodwill that exists across the UK”.