Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers list released
Stonewall has released its list of the Top 100 Employers, placing security service MI5 at the top. In second place was Lloyds Banking Group, closely followed by the National Assembly for Wales in third.
Created by lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) equality charity Stonewall, the list is compiled from submissions to the Workplace Equality Index, a benchmarking tool used by employers to assess their achievements and progress on LGBT equality in the workplace.
Over 400 organisations took part in the Index, the highest number in its 12 year history. Each participant must demonstrate their expertise in 10 distinct areas of employment policy and practice, including networking groups, career development, training and community engagement.
More than 60,000 staff from across these organisations also took part in an anonymous survey about their employers’ attitudes towards workplace culture, diversity and inclusion, making it one of the largest national employment surveys in Britain.
Organisations from the legal and housing sectors dominate the Top 10 on the Index, and across the Top 100, local government, education and health and social care are the most featured sectors.
Ruth Hunt, Stonewall Chief Executive, said: ‘MI5 have made fantastic strides in creating an inclusive workplace, and have now appeared on the Stonewall Top 100 Employers list since 2012. This is an amazing achievement and demonstrates just how seriously diversity and inclusion is taken.”
The top performing organisations in each sector are:
• Defence and Security: MI5 (1)
• Banking and Finance: Lloyds Banking Group (2)
• Education: Cardiff University (20)
• Emergency Services: Cheshire Fire & Rescue (13)
• Energy: BP (43)
• Government: National Assembly for Wales (3)
• Health and Social Care: Golden Jubilee Foundation (29)
• Housing: B3 Living (4)
• Insurance: Aviva (46)
• Legal: Pinsent Masons (5)
• Local Government: Leicestershire County Council (7)
• Media: Creative Skillset (20)
• Professional Services: PwC (11)
• Retail: The Cooperative Group (72)
• Third Sector: Victim Support (13)
Nine organisations that have ‘graduated’ the Workplace Equality Index hold Star Performer status. You must rank in the Top 10 of the Index three times within five consecutive years to qualify as a Stonewall Star Performer. Currently, nine organisations are part of the Star Performers programme: Accenture, Barclays, EY, Gentoo, Goldman Sachs, Home Office, IBM, Simmons & Simmons and the top performing employer from 2015, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
You can read the full results of Stonewall’s 2016 Top 100 Employers list here.

Share Story: