Diversity, equality and inclusion at Azets

Our Purpose and Commitment

Azets is committed to encouraging diversity, equality & inclusion (DE&I) across its UK business. We know that our strength lies in the unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences of our diverse workforce, making DE&I not just a commitment but a fundamental aspect of our company culture.

Improving the lives of our colleagues, our clients and our communities in a sustainable way is at the heart of what we do, and DE&I plays an important role in this. It is also a core component of our business strategy and key priorities.

We strive to live our values, by creating an inclusive and fair work environment, where people can be their authentic selves. Our goal is to attract and retain the best talent, from diverse backgrounds and experiences, through fair and transparent processes to ultimately create a culture where all individuals belong and reach their potential.

Azets UK Leadership Commitment

Peter Gallanagh, Azets UK CEO

“At Azets, our commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion is one of our key strategic priorities. We believe it is our responsibility to promote a culture where everyone feels comfortable and proud to be themselves. Our partnership with the King's Trust reflects our dedication to supporting young adults in our local communities through volunteering, development and engagement programs. We strive to be a business that not only attracts individuals from diverse backgrounds but also empowers them to meet their career aspirations, at all levels within the organisation.”

Helen Hall, Head of DE&I and ESG

"Appointed in July 2024, My role enables enables the business to focus on the initiatives we need to deliver to be truly recognised as an inclusive employer, with a culture of openness, transparency and equal opportunities. At Azets, we are extremely proud of the diversity that exists within our workforce, with over 52% of our roles performed by women. We continue to work hard on our selection processes and providing the opportunities and support required for our talented employees to succeed, irrespective of their background."

Azets UK DE&I Strategy

Our DE&I strategy guides our ambitions, whilst holding us to account to deliver improvements against 3 key areas.

Drive awareness and understanding across our business - Learning about our colleagues and their backgrounds is fundamental to the formation of our DE&I initiatives. Our first area of focus is to further build our knowledge to understand how we can continue to drive progress in Azets UK. We commit to providing our team members with the training and support to confidently understand fundamental DE&I topics.
Increase the diversity of our senior leaders - this will be achieved by increasing our employer brand to attract a diverse mix of candidates. We also commit to providing our internal talent with transparent career pathways and support and using fair and independent selection processes to ensure the best candidate is recruited.
Enhance social inclusion – ensuring everyone, regardless of their background, feels included at Azets is at the core of our DE&I ambitions. We will support this in our business but also in the wider community by collaborating with local and national partners.

We have put in place several aspirational targets to support and drive progress and to help us measure the success of our new policies, procedures and initiatives.

Our Engagement, Partners and Accreditations

Our employee DE&I network, Authentically Azets, is dedicated to promoting inclusivity within Azets UK. Through this network we lead business-wide celebrations of key diversity events, whilst offering a platform for open dialogue and feedback to ensure every voice is heard. Our regional representatives act as the conduit between Authentically Azets and the wider business, with our network Chairs meeting regularly with senior leadership to ensure every voice is heard and valued.

We are delighted to be partnering with The King’s Trust to support their work with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds across the UK. This is a cause close to our heart at Azets and linked to our desire to improve social inclusion and our purpose to improve the lives of our colleagues, clients and communities.

At Azets, we believe Inclusive Collaboration drives our success, that's why we're proud to be recognised as a Disability Confident Committed Employer.

We are committed to continually advancing our recruitment process to make it inclusive and accessible for all, and to supporting employees with disabilities and long-term health conditions.

Together, we are building a workplace where everyone can contribute their best self.

We are also proud to highlight just some of the enhancements we have recently made to our policies and processes to support our DE&I goals:

Appointed a dedicated Head of DE&I and ESG to be accountable for ensuring we have the right strategy, investment and priorities in place to support positive change.
Introduced buy/sell leave and agile bank holidays, in addition to having a flexible working policy to support our colleagues’ work life balance.
Enhanced family friendly policies and introduced additional return to work support for those going on and returning from parental leave.
Introduced a menopause policy, network and knowledge hub.
Partnerships with other charitable initiatives including Lean In Circles, Sutton Trust alongside local fundraising.
Introduced two mandated DE&I e-learning programmes to increase awareness.
Recognised the importance of having good data and will soon be in a position to share a detailed picture of our diversity across the UK and priority areas.

Find our Gender Pay Gap report here.

This data will be updated at the beginning of every financial year.

We are proud to have so many talented colleagues, here are just a few that have been recognised through local, national and international awards:

Praveen Gupta – ‘Accounting Partner of the Year’ at the British Asian Professional Awards, 2023 | Aysha Canning – ‘Corporate Rising Star’ at Scottish Asian & Business Awards 2023 | Tony Farmer – ‘Partner of the Year’, North East Audit Partner of the Year, 2023 | Lee Humble – ‘Partner of the Year’, NEAA, 2023 | Sam Beacham - Devon Chamber 30 under 30 2024 | Katherine Broadhurst – Named in Top 50 Women in Accounting 2024 | Naomi Wells & Luke Quince – Accountancy Age 35 under 35, 2024

We've made significant strides in promoting equity, cultural awareness, accessibility, and LGBTQ+ inclusion. Our efforts include publishing 40 articles to raise awareness, hosting collaborative meetings to encourage dialogue and connection, and organising four major events last year.

Rohit Ghai

Chair of Authentically Azets, Assistant Manager, Tax

Hear more from our colleagues who celebrated Pride 2024

"York Pride was a great opportunity for the Yorkshire offices to get involved with supporting an amazing cause as well as promoting team building within the business. It was lovely to see so many people come together to support each other.”