Bristol can play a key role in helping the new government meet its ambitions to improve working conditions for women and create better businesses, according to the organisation aiming to make the city England’s best for gender equality.
Sandra Gordon, pictured, director of Bristol Women in Business Charter, said: “We congratulate the new Prime Minister, his government and all the MPs who have been elected in Bristol.
“With a change of this magnitude comes the promise of better working and living conditions for women.
“This in turn is good for the economy – where women thrive, local communities become stronger and healthier.”
Launched in 2019 by Bristol City Council’s Women’s Commission, the Bristol Women in Business Charter has seven specific goals geared at creating more equitable workplaces for women, supporting them at different stages of life.
More than 40 organisations have already signed up to it, between them representing 48,000 workers – just under a fifth of Bristol’s entire workforce.
Sandra said: “We also welcome the Labour Party’s commitment to creating better business that creates financial prosperity but also social value.
“Our city has a huge part to play in supporting the ambitions of this government and with the region’s first Green Party MP there will also be an added focus on climate justice, which goes hand in hand with social justice.
“We will now be looking for this new administration to take immediate and direct action to tackle the significant challenges facing women around issues such as affordable childcare, gender pay equality and increased intersectional female representation in the decision-making process.”
Bristol Women in Business Charter was formed by Women in Business Task Group, a group of volunteers and part of the Bristol Women’s Commission, as part of a collaboration unique to the city supporting employers put gender equity at the heart of strategic workforce planning.
Some of the key benefits for charter signatories, which include finance firm Hargreaves Lansdown and law firm TLT, include opening up talent pools and retaining employees who are often hard to reach or who leave their employers due to caring duties or lack of opportunity.
BWIBC is an independent CIC (community interest company) working with small to large businesses to build a community actively making a difference for the women who work for them.