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Phoenix Group joins Business Disability Forum and sets up new employee network to focus on disabilities

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Today Phoenix Group, the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business, announced it is joining Business Disability Forum and will be establishing its own internal, employee-led network to focus on disabilities, and the different abilities that people have, and provide a collective voice for its employees.

Phoenix aims to create a diverse and inclusive environment that reflects its customers and the communities where it operates. Business Disability Forum is a not-for-profit membership organisation which exists to transform the life chances of disabled people by working with businesses to create a disability-smart world. The Forum is an opportunity to share and learn from others, in order to support even greater diversity in the workplace.

Phoenix recently joined The Valuable 500, a global movement putting disability on the business leadership agenda, and has also signed up to the Government’s Disability Confident Scheme.

Commenting, Sara Thompson, Group HR Director, Phoenix Group, said:

“We’re delighted to be joining Business Disability Forum and very much looking forward to meeting the other members. At Phoenix Group we aim to ensure our workplace is inclusive and reflects our diverse range of customers and the communities where we operate. We continue to build a culture where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, which recognises and values all our unique differences, and enables every employee to contribute and fulfil their potential. That’s why being “disability smart” is so important to us.

“Phoenix is a signatory to the Government’s Disability Confident Scheme and by being an active member of Business Disability Forum we will continue to share experiences and learn from others. If we’re disability confident we will be more agile and responsive, with true diversity of thought helping us to make even better decisions. That’s what makes us sustainable and it’s imperative businesses don’t lose sight of that as they respond to the challenges of the post Covid-19 economy. We’re looking forward to putting the insight we gain from membership of the Forum into practice as we champion this at all levels across our Group.”

Diane Lightfoot, CEO of Business Disability Forum, says:

“Business Disability Forum is very pleased to welcome the Phoenix Group on board as a new Member. We look forward to working with the team in this important step of its commitment to becoming a disability-smart organisation”.

Phoenix Group has seven active employee networks in place, including those supporting mental health, gender diversity and the armed forces. The new disability network planned for the Autumn will bring the total number of employee networks to eight. The networks create supportive communities and are a powerful driver for greater understanding and inclusion. Phoenix Group consults with the networks when forming and reviewing working practices.

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