Press Release - 23 February 2006

Charity urges businesses to sign up for free advice promoting economic benefits of diverse workplace

Businesses throughout the UK are being urged to sign-up for free advice to help promote the financial and economic benefits of improving their workplace diversity.

The advice, part of an initiative called the Employer Diversity Project, shows that having effective diversity policies in place can help companies win lucrative contracts and address the UK's skills gap and labour shortages.

Current race equality legislation requires all companies supplying the public sector to be able to demonstrate active diversity policies and practices that promote race equality. The private sector is also expected to adopt the same requirements.

The Employer Diversity Project is being co-ordinated by Bradford-based charity Quest for Economic Development (QED) and funded by Jobcentre Plus. All companies must sign-up for the initiative by the end of March 2006.

Companies who sign-up to the free initiative can tailor the diversity advice to their needs by taking part in one of the following options:

• A short seminar covering the business case for diversity, how to establish a diversity policy and good practice examples of other companies' policies;
• Assessment of a company's existing diversity policies by a panel of experts. The results will be fed back to the company with suggestions for improvement where necessary;
• A confidential help-line giving one-to-one advice on specific diversity issues.

Employers who successfully take part in the initiative are awarded a certificate demonstrating their commitment to diversity.

The eight Jobcentre Plus areas taking part in the Employer Diversity Project include:

• Birmingham and Solihull;
• Bradford;
• Cardiff;
• Coventry and Warwickshire;
• Gloucestershire;
• Swindon and Wiltshire;
• Greater Manchester East;
• Staffordshire and Tees Valley.

Chief executive of QED, Dr Mohammed Ali OBE, says: "The Employer Diversity Project is a vital opportunity for employers to broaden their workforce diversity. Having a diverse workforce will help win lucrative contracts with major public and private sector firms as well as open up new sources of skilled labour. I would urge all businesses to sign-up for this free initiative and show their commitment to helping the country's economy."

Ethnic Minority Team Leader at Jobcentre Plus, Chris Wood says: "Jobcentre Plus is keen to promote the business benefits of diversity and employees from across the UK's ethnic minorities have a huge amount to offer the business community and the economy as a whole. The Employer Diversity Project is an excellent free opportunity to help companies unlock the potential of having a diverse workforce."

To register for the FREE scheme, contact QED by telephoning 01274 483267 or emailing m.ali@qed-uk.org by the end of March 2006.

For further press information contact or Simon Collister or Scilla Baldwin at Cicada Public Relations Limited on 01423 567111. Alternatively, email simon@cicada-pr.com or scilla@cicada-pr.com.