One year on from George Floyd's murder, our Managing Partner, Tomás Neeson, reflects on Cundall's journey and calls for conversations around racism and bias in the workplace to continue.

Today marks one year since the murder of George Floyd, and while the killing sparked a wave of Black Lives Matter protests around the globe and myriad commitments from corporate entities to do better, we may ask, “what has really changed?"

From my perspective – change has occurred, but not enough. Some of the most positive things I've seen in Cundall include the ongoing development of our Affinity Networks (including our MOSAIC ethnicity and culture network), and the engagement and ongoing education of people at all levels within Cundall. This is across both what it means to live as a black person in the UK, and being aware of white privilege – whether we choose to accept it or not.

Our Head of Talent, Diversity & Inclusion, Kieran Thompson, and the team are signposting ways in which we can broaden our understanding to enable us to make more inclusive decisions going forward. There is a wealth of information at our disposal and we can all learn more about the issues underlying the current climate. If you find your information by podcasts, I would point you to “About Race" by Reni Eddo-Lodge (author of Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race) which engages a wide range of people in debate and brings in lived experiences to better illustrate real issues people face.

One key action we have taken in recent months as part of a comprehensive overhaul of our recruitment and selection policy, is the adoption of the Rooney Rule for all leadership-level recruitment. This is of course, just one method we have introduced aimed at increasing diversity and inclusion at Cundall, but it cannot be achieved without the unwavering and widespread support of our leadership team and colleagues.

As with all events, time can reduce the impact, so it is incumbent on us all to support our black colleagues at Cundall, to work hard to not allow the issues to fade into the background, and to deliver on our commitment to create a more equal workplace and society. For my part, we have started to invite more specific feedback on leaders' behaviours around inclusivity as part of our ongoing 360-degree review process, and I am exploring these topics more fully in my accountability discussions with other leaders across the business.

Keep up the conversations all.