Mark Casci: Progress being made on social mobility but the fight is far from over

And, as business editor of The Yorkshire Post, I was extremely heartened to see so many of the region’s principal players featured.

I know from my conversations with business leaders in the Yorkshire area that having a diverse workforce is a top priority on many firm’s agendas, as they see the clear benefit of diving into a wider pool of talent than that provided from one section of society.

Research consistently shows that people from more affluent backgrounds take a disproportionate number of the best jobs and that employers tend to disproportionately employ graduates who went to private schools and elite universities.

However, thanks to the Social Mobility Foundation, this blinkered approach to recruitment is beginning to evaporate.

Among those featured in the Top 50 list, in random order, were KPMG, Morrisons, Deloitte, Rolls Royce, O2, Eversheds, DLA Piper, Pinsent Masons - all of whom have strong presence in Yorkshire.

Special mention however must go for two companies.

First of all professional services giant Grant Thornton UK which topped the list.

The firm, who has offices in Leeds and Sheffield, has made a number of changes to its school leaver and graduate trainee selection process in recent years, including the removal of academic barriers to entry and reducing the emphasis on relevant work experience and extra-curricular achievements.

The firm also changed its aptitude test provider to one that could prove its process did not discriminate based on socioeconomic background. The aptitude test also now takes a more holistic approach to identifying talent and cultural fit.

Its managing partner Andy Wood called the investment a “win-win”.

“Businesses get access to a hidden talent pool, bringing diverse perspectives and better reflecting the clients we serve,” he said.

“Communities benefit through recognition of talent and the reward of opportunities and development.”

Also included was FDM Group, just days after it became one of the first firms in the region to publish its gender pay gap details, showing it to be clearly below the national average in this regard

The mean pay gap with the firm was just six per cent ,with the median gap at zero per cent, compared to the national average of 18.1 per cent. The business, which employs around 500 people in Leeds, is one of only a handful of businesses to have publish their pay data, something that all business employing 250 people and higher will be required to do by March of next year.

To see so many companies putting into action measures which see them reach out to all sectors of society is good business sense. But, without any sense of hyperbole, it can help provide a more stable platform for our society generally.

One of the key areas of consternation during the Brexit debate, both before last year’s referendum and in the year since, has been this sense from many people that society had somehow left them behind.

Events like Grenfell Tower have brought this into sharp relief. It is even more crucial than ever that we bring everyone along for the ride.

I take my hat off to all of the firms who made the grade, and to the many more business leaders large and small who recognise that they have a role to play in making not only their own workforces more equal, but society generally.

However now is not the time to rest of laurels, nor to consider the task at hand somehow completed.

There is plenty more hard work to come but we sure have taken one hell of a step in the right direction.