Diversity and inclusion at Santander Bank UK

Our customers come from a wide range of backgrounds, and so do our people. We aim to reflect and celebrate diversity in our workplace in order to create an inclusive culture that adds real value to our business.

When we talk about diversity, we don’t want to just pay lip service. It's too important. Our journey over the next 5 years is to ensure that everyone here is selected, promoted and considered by their skills to do the job, irrespective of their gender, sexual orientation, race, age, disability, religion & belief. We want to build a culture where everyone counts. We believe that having a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives makes us stronger and helps us attract and retain talented people and develop them to their full potential.

What does this mean for you?
It means nothing should hold you back.

Partnerships and recognition

We're proud to promote equality & inclusion through our partnerships including Business in the Community, Stonewall, Business Disability Forum, MyGwork and Working Families.

We’ve received external recognition for our approach to supporting diversity, receiving the Disability Confident Leader accreditation, The Times Top 50 Employer for Women, Business in the Community Top Employer for Race and featuring in the Top 20 on the Social Mobility Employer Index.

To see a list of our current partners please click here

Family Friendly Policies

If you’re thinking about joining us you may be interested in understanding how we support our employees who have family or caring responsibilities. We are part of a small group of organisations who publish our family friendly policies as we believe that transparency in our offering is paramount to promoting an inclusive culture. Which means you don’t have to worry about asking for the information when applying for a role or coming to an interview. In addition we have a dedicated Employee network (our Parents & Carers Network) that provides easy access to a support community when you start in your role.

Supporting diverse employees

Our employee-led networks champion and support colleagues through mentoring programmes, workshops and speaker events. Watch this highlights video of a workshop event on the topic of personal branding organised by Ethnicity@Work for their members.

Supporting Former Armed Forces members

In 2019 we were awarded the MoD’s Employer Recognition Gold Award, the highest badge of honour available to companies that employ and support those from the Armed Forces community, who serve, or are veterans, and their families. This is in recognition of our long-term commitment since signing the Armed Forces Covenant in 2016, with our support for the military community demonstrated through the provision of additional leave for Reservists to attend training and actively seeking to employ service leavers through the Career Transition Partnership.

Social Mobility

We’re passionate about helping to improve Social Mobility. Our Social Mobility Strategy focuses on advocating for and improving outcomes for our people, customers, and communities. Our membership, and being a Founder Partner, of Progress Together is a key enabler of our Social Mobility strategy. Launched as part of a government commissioned taskforce, it is the first of its kind in the Financial Services Sector focusing on progression, retention, and socio-economic diversity. Through this membership, we demonstrate our commitment to leading and collaborating with others, using our influence to improve Social Mobility across the UK and within Financial Services.

FIND OUT MORE

Accelerating women's employment

We support women's professional development through our talent programmes. Recent programmes have included our Accelerating You programme that has had over 400 high potential female leaders supported in their development. The 9 month programme was aimed to help support career development goals, broaden networks and develop personal brand and profile. The content of the programme was designed to create a thriving workplace.

Equal Lives Research

Equal Lives ResearchWe’ve partnered with the charity Business in the Community on a ground-breaking research project to develop a more detailed understanding of the barriers to men becoming more involved in caring roles, and the practical steps employers can take to support them. The report makes practical recommendations for employers to support employees balance duties in and out of the workplace – addressing how enabling men to share caring responsibilities can catalyse women’s career-progression.

Download the report here 4.9 MB

Female Entrepreneurship

We support female entrepreneurs, becoming a signatory for the Investing in Women Code, a commitment to support the advancement of female entrepreneurship in the UK.

Research we undertook in 2019 showed that three-quarters of young people were unable to name one female business owner, so in a bid to support the next generation in considering running a business in the future, we launched a new guide to becoming an entrepreneur, including videos and tips from a range of female business owners. These campaigns reinforce our commitment to championing inclusion and supporting women - both inside and outside the organisation - to thrive.

Women in Finance

Our commitment to signing the  HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter supports our existing gender equality strategy and demonstrates our commitment to do more. We have set an ambitious 50% (+/- 10%) target (the variation of +/- 10% to reflect the timescale, the desire to develop and retain the right internal talent, and the existing availability of senior women in the financial services industry).

Find out more here

Gender Pay Reports

All businesses with more than 250 employees are expected to report annually on gender pay and bonus gaps. In the below reports we provide detail on the figures and the ways in which we are addressing positive change. As part of our commitment to transparency in 2020, Santander UK voluntarily disclosed our ethnicity pay gap for the first time, details of which are included in the report.

2021

2022

2023

Employee Led Networks

Our employee-led networks champion and support colleagues through mentoring programmes, workshops and speaker events.

Is an inclusive community for LGBTQ+ colleagues and allies to share information, personal experiences, hold discussions and provide support. Watch this video to find out more about the network

Provides colleagues who are either directly or indirectly affected by disability with a platform to share, learn, discuss and support.

Celebrates and embraces cultural differences from race, belief, traditions, heritage and custom.

Encourages positive mental wellbeing and supports colleagues by promoting awareness, openness and understanding.

is a place for ex-military employees, reservists, employees with friends and family in the military and others who support the military to share, discuss and support one another.

Is for fathers, mothers, step-parents, parents through fostering, or adoption or surrogacy, and grandparents as well as those who are caring for someone unable to look after themselves.

Seeks to create a level playing field to enable all colleagues and those in our communities to achieve their full potential regardless of their background or social class.

Encourages a balanced representation of women in Santander and help female colleagues feel more empowered to fulfil their true potential.

Our People Stories

We know it’s our people who make us who we are. We believe that having a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives makes us stronger and we aim to reflect and celebrate diversity in our workplace by creating a inclusive culture.

Manoj’s Story

It’s taken half a century for Manoj Masuria to discover he is autistic and, with the support of his manager, he’s on a mission to help others improve their understanding of neurodiversity.

Manoj thrives as a neurodivergent colleague ...

Santander Share

UK CAREERS | DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION