Whilst research indicates that companies with more diverse workforces are more profitable, at One City, we are primarily led by moral and ethical purpose and the certainty of positive societal impact.

Diversity and inclusion have long been corporate buzzwords in City institutions, but in practice, progress is too slow and has had limited impact.

Many of our current diversity programs are not delivering; instead, we are heading towards a culture of increasingly separate subgroups, expensive unconscious bias training workshops (telling us what we already know and not producing measurable change) that are driving us apart, rather than together.

One City was launched in June 2018, at KPMG, following 12 months of conversations with City leaders, who want to see tangible progress, in their own lifetimes. One City exists to help your firm’s commitment to greater diversity and inclusion by taking actions that are easy to implement, inexpensive, practical and impactful.

One City wants every suitably-qualified person to have a fair chance of securing an opportunity and being fairly promoted, during their career. Our members are committed to making this happen in their own organisations.

We invite and welcome new ideas, steps and initiatives in our achievable pursuit, to advance and accelerate equal opportunities, for all.

"Equality" Rather Than "Diversity"

One City would like to encourage all firms to make one small change: replace the word ‘Diversity’, with ‘Equality’. Diversity makes individuals question if they are included, after all, as individuals ‘who are we diverse to and in what way?’. Equality means everyone is equal and included, thus, this leads firms to achieving greater ‘diversity’, within organisations. If your organisation makes this change, please let us know and we will announce it on our ‘Progress in Action’ page too.