The accountancy profession needs to consider how it measures diversity and the use of language to ensure opportunities for all. Julie Matheson and Shannett Thompson, partners at law firm Kingsley Napley, consider the latest developments
Recent news that the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is canvassing views from top company executives on the appropriateness of the use of the umbrella term BAME is to be welcomed.
Earlier this year, our firm Kingsley Napley renamed its Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME) & Allies Network in view of the debate around the acronym and its suitability. We chose, the Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage (REACH) network, for clear reasons. We carefully considered the importance of language when talking about identity, and recognised that the acronym BAME did not accurately represent our network’s ethos.
The network had never operated as a homogenous group, lumping together all our experiences as ‘common’ to all non-white individuals. Interestingly, we were not the first to switch to the REACH name, following the General Dental Council doing the same.
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