We know that by having a better, more inclusive culture and a diverse group of colleagues, we can support our customers and each other in the best way possible.

Our culture embraces and celebrates colleague diversity, and we hire our colleagues based on their skills and attitude, not on their age, background or any other characteristics. 

We aim to make all our colleagues feel valued, confident and motivated as we pursue our Purpose.

We’re an equal opportunities employer and we want people to join us no matter how they identify, their sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, disability or age.

We maintain this culture through effective training and policies that promote acceptance.

Our business brings us into contact with people from many different communities, which makes it important for our workforce to reflect the diversity we see in our customer base.

Equality and diversity aren’t about box-ticking; it’s about recognising the basic right of all colleagues to be treated fairly, regardless of their differences, whether that’s in age, ethnicity, gender or any other characteristic. Diversity also brings with it significant strategic value: more perspectives, more skills, more experience. This belief underpins our recruitment, training, promotion and remuneration practices.

We are a member of the Business Forum on Disability, which allows us to access best practice advice and support on a range of business disability issues so we can improve our performance in this area.

At Vanquis Banking Group we actively celebrate and promote Neurodiversity celebration week and support and recognise the many talents and advantages of being Neurodivergent, whilst creating a more inclusive and equitable workplace culture for all our colleagues. 

We want our business to be as diverse and inclusive as we can make it. Employing people with different skills and backgrounds helps us understand our customers’ needs and gives us vital insights when developing the best products and services. But more than this, having a diverse workforce gives all of us more opportunity to learn, grow and meet people from different backgrounds, the value of which is something none of us should underestimate.

As part of our colleague engagement survey, we invite colleagues to disclose as much information about themselves as they feel comfortable sharing; information such as their ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, disability status, caring responsibilities and gender identity. We do this in order to gain the broadest possible understanding of who our colleagues are so we can educate ourselves as a Group, encouraging support and representation for colleagues from all communities and celebrating the characteristic that make us who we are.

We also use the data to set ourselves a benchmark to work against in the future, so we can measure how many colleagues feel comfortable disclosing personal information to us. Our aim is to develop EDI initiatives that will give even more colleagues the confidence to share this information with us freely in the future.

Supporting our colleagues

We provide an encouraging, supportive and inclusive workplace culture. Our colleagues are key to our long-term success, and their dedication and hard work are what give Vanquis Banking Group its unique character and culture, which enable us to deliver the best service to our customers.


We have around 2,500 colleagues* based in Bradford, Chatham, London and Petersfield. During
the pandemic they mainly worked from home, with some colleagues in the office. As we return to the office, Vanquis Banking Group will be implementing a hybrid model, which will deliver positive outcomes for customers and colleagues. Listening to our colleagues’ thoughts and opinions with lockdown in place for the start of the year, it was important Vanquis Banking Group engaged and supported colleagues through potentially challenging times. Engagement, though, is a two‑way street, and the Banking Group carried out its colleague engagement survey to find out what colleagues thought and felt about working here.
Scores for engagement were strong, though slightly down on 2020, which could be due to pandemic tiredness and a desire to return to normal life. Key colleague engagement scores for 2021 are:

85%

of colleagues care about the future of Vanquis Banking Group 

83%

of colleagues understand our Purpose and what we are trying to achieve

89%

of colleagues feel their manager treats them fairly and with respect

84%

of colleagues feel people help and support each other at Vanquis Banking Group 

88%

of colleagues feel well equipped to work regardless of whether at home or in the office

 

The Be Yourself Programme

We think that if you can Be Yourself in the workplace, you’ll do your best work and enjoy being part of the team. And as a business we get to benefit from that and to celebrate all the wonderful things that diversity brings.

In 2020 we launched Be Yourself. It's our programme to promote and advance inclusion and diversity across Vanquis Banking Group.

The launch of this programme was borne out of the recognition that our colleagues and other stakeholders can only embrace our Purpose to move along a path to a better everyday life if they feel that it’s their path and they feel comfortable walking it.

To support the inclusion and diversity agenda at Vanquis Banking Group, we designated an executive sponsor.

I’m proud and thrilled to sponsor such an important initiative. I’ve been with PFG for just over a year now and have been impressed with the colleagues we have working throughout the business. I’m certain that we’ll further improve as a Group by maximising inclusion and diversity. It’s something I’m passionate about.

Gareth Cronin
Chief Risk Officer

 

One of the ways we're seeking to maximise inclusion and diversity is by having a number of Affinity Groups across the group. 

LGBTQ+ Affinity Group

The LGBTQ+ Affinity Group proactively supports PFG’s vision for equality and inclusion through a variety of activities. 

Please click here to read more about the role of this group and what they've been up to more recently.

Please note: We are currently in the process of building web pages to share with you the details of all our Be Yourself activities. Please come back another time to read more about our Ethnicity, Disability and Gender Balance Affinity Groups.