The Big Four Professional Services Organisations latest to join Forces On Business Disability Inclusion

• The Big Four professional service organisations, Deloitte UK, EY, KPMG UK and PwC UK have signed up to disability inclusion campaign The Valuable 500
• The campaign is seeking 500 global business leaders and brands to commit to putting disability on their board agendas in 2019
• This marks the first ever collaboration on disability inclusion in business between all four leading accountancy organisations

Deloitte UK, KPMG UK and PwC UK have today announced that they have signed up to The Valuable 500 – the global initiative striving to place disability inclusion on the business agenda. EY has already pledged to The Valuable 500 at a global level.

This collaborative move from the leading professional services organisations places the sector at the forefront of creating better inclusivity in business. This move follows the large number of banks that recently committed to The Valuable 500 including Barclays, HSBC, Bank of England, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, signifying a huge step forward for the financial sector as a whole.

The Valuable 500, launched at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Summit in Davos earlier this year, is seeking 500 global business leaders to place disability on their board agendas, and will hold each accountable for disability inclusion in their businesses by ensuring it is discussed at leadership level and action is taken.

To date businesses employing well over two million employees globally have signed up to put disability inclusion on their board agendas.

The Big Four all have a history of taking action to improve inclusion in the workplace, with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC working with Auticon, to make the most of the cognitive strengths of autistic individuals through targeted hiring. KPMG is also working alongside the Department for Work and Pensions as a Disability Confidence Leader.

Deloitte recognises that disability has a wider impact than just its own workforce and is proud to be supporting Scope as one of its One Million Futures charity partners and a member of the #WorkWithMe community.

EY was recently named on Fortune’s ‘Change the World’ list for its work to recruit neurodiverse candidates. EY also collaborated with #valuable in 2018 to publish research which highlighted the scale of disability exclusion in business.

Similarly, with a focus on digital upskilling and inclusion, PwC are working with a wide range of assistive technology providers and have a team dedicated to ensuring their technology is accessible and to raising awareness of the specific tools available.

The announcement comes just one week before KPMG is set to host a disability focused event in association with its Board Leadership Centre, building on its work from 2018 with disability organisation Purple. The event, ‘Leading from the front – disability and the role of the board’ will bring together business leaders and influencers to help build further confidence on disability inclusive leadership.

Caroline Casey, founder of The Valuable 500, commented:

“Deloitte UK, EY, KPMG UK and PwC UK, the big four professional services organisations have the national power to make a difference in their sector, and therefore the responsibility to really make a difference. It is fantastic that they are standing up together to speak for those who have been routinely ignored in business and society.

Momentum is building for disability inclusion and it is fantastic to see global competitors come together to collaborate and solve global inclusion issues. Undoubtedly this is a sign that the world is waking up to the current inequality crisis.

We applaud the big four for taking a definitive stand on inclusion and giving a voice to disabled people through their boardrooms, and encourage other business leaders and brands to follow suit in committing to The Valuable 500.”

Richard Houston, Senior Partner and CEO of Deloitte UK and Deloitte North and South Europe, said:

“We’re committed to ensuring our firm is inclusive, where individual differences are respected and valued. An inclusive culture means encouraging true diversity of thought and creating an environment that allows everyone to play to their strengths.”

Deloitte has committed to increase their focus on neurodiversity. Working with colleagues in their neurodiversity network they are looking at how to better support employees with a neurodiverse (ND) condition, and the vast untapped skills of people on the ND spectrum. One of their first steps is their collaboration with Auticon, to make the most of the cognitive strengths of autistic individuals through targeted hiring.

Kevin Ellis, Senior Partner and Chairman, PWC UK, said:

"We're very pleased to work with Valuable 500. Businesses like ours have a responsibility to promote inclusion and equality, and as business leaders we need to work together to unlock the value of disabled talent across society. At PwC we're committed to creating a culture where everyone feels they can thrive and progress - disability inclusion is an integral part of our Board agenda on inclusion."

Carmine di Sibio, EY Global chairman and CEO says:

“Diversity & Inclusion is an essential element of our strategy at EY. As global signatories to Valuable 500 since 2018, we are proud to welcome other leaders in our industry as we use collective power to create positive change. We’ve seen the power of inclusive initiatives first hand through our Neurodiverse Centers of Excellence which recruit, train and employ individuals on the Autism spectrum. Diversity & Inclusion is part of the lifeblood of our organization and we believe that we all need to work together across the globe to bring more attention to this important issue.”

Tony Cates, Vice Chair and Board Sponsor for Disability and Mental Health at KPMG UK, said:

“As a large employer and with a broad client base we have a real opportunity to lead from the front and promote inclusion, diversity and social equality in our business and the people we work with. The Valuable 500 is another opportunity for us to speak out about the importance of disability inclusion and we look forward to working with others to further this agenda.”

Founded by social entrepreneur and campaigner Caroline Casey, the launch of The Valuable 500 at Davos marked the first time disability inclusion was discussed on the main stage with the support of global business leaders – who included former Unilever CEO Paul Polman, Bloomberg Chairman Peter Grauer, and global CEO at Accenture Julie Sweet. Since its launch, businesses such as Sainsburys, Microsoft, EY, Accenture, Fujitsu, Unilever, and Bloomberg have all joined he movement.

Its mission is to unlock the value of people living with disabilities across the world.
Along with their friends, families and communities, the one billion disabled people worldwide also hold a disposable annual income of $8 trillion a year, equating to an opportunity that business cannot afford to ignore.

Deloitte, KPMG and PwC will join EY, which was announced as a member earlier this year alongside other global businesses including Boeing and Zurich, in the effort to tackle the poor global employment rate for disabled people, which is currently stands at half of non-disabled people, a gap which has been on the rise since 2010.

To apply to be a Valuable 500 business, please visit thevaluable500.com.

#valuable – it’s everyone’s business.

End

Media contacts:

For interviews and further information, please contact:

Sophie Currah
Seven Hills
Telephone: +44 207 199 2204

Marianne Waite
The Valuable 500 Campaign Director

Applying for Membership of The Valuable 500
To apply to be a Valuable 500 business, please visit thevaluable500.com.

Membership of The Valuable 500 includes:

• Unlimited access to our executive disability performance resource hub
• Membership to a community of like-minded business peer leaders, committed to raising their game on disability
• The platform and opportunity to raise your profile as an early adopter helping to shape this vital emerging economic and societal agenda.

By becoming a member of The Valuable 500, you agree to:

• COMMIT: Table disability on your board agenda from 2019
• ACT: Make ONE firm commitment to action in 2019
• AMPLIFY: Share your commitment to The Valuable 500 internally and externally

About #valuable
Launched by Binc, #valuable is a campaign working to ensure businesses globally recognise the value of the one billion people around the world living with a disability. We believe that building a global society that recognises the value of the 1 billion people living with a disability starts with business. We’re on a mission to make sure businesses across the world recognise the value of the one billion people living with a disability.

Binc was founded by social entrepreneur and activist Caroline Casey in 2015, with a mission to ignite a historic global movement for a new age of business inclusion. Binc is capitalising on Caroline Casey’s 18-year track record of success engaging over 450 organisations and working with 500,000 business leaders. Binc fundamentally believes that inclusive business creates inclusive societies and is initiating a new approach to business that genuinely includes the 1 billion people living in the world with a disability. Binc is the founding team behind valuable, an ambitious global campaign to put inclusivity on top of the business agenda around the world in 2019. Binc is using a tried and tested formula that has worked in the past for gender, race and LGBT to leverage the exponential rise of The Diversity and Inclusion Agenda.

About KPMG in the UK
KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, operates from 22 offices across the UK with approximately 16,300 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a revenue of £2.338 billion in the year ended 30 September 2018. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. It operates in 154 countries and has 200,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.

About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

About PwC
At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We’re a network of firms in 158 countries with more than 250,000 people and in the UK we have more than 21,000 people across 24 offices. We are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com.

PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.

© 2019 PwC. All rights reserved.

About Deloitte
In this press release references to “Deloitte” are references to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”) a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity.

Please see deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.

Deloitte LLP is a subsidiary of Deloitte NSE LLP, which is a member firm of DTTL, and is among the UK's leading professional services firms.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

For more information, please visit www.deloitte.co.uk

Member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited

Disability and the Sustainable Development Goals
The need to advance disability inclusion around the globe is essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Disability or ‘persons with disabilities’ are specifically referenced 11 times in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a further six references to ‘persons in vulnerable situations’. Principally with reference to: promoting inclusive economic growth that allows disabled people to fully access the job market and guaranteeing equal and accessible education through the creation of inclusive environments.