CityFibre named one of The Times Top 50 Employers for Women

CityFibre has secured a place in the Times Top 50 Employers for Woman following an assessment by experts using criteria such as its approach to recruitment, family friendly policies and how it has championed gender equality in the context of the pandemic.

Run by the charity Business in the Community - The Prince’s Responsible Business Network – for more than a decade, the list is one of the UK’s most highly profiled and well-established benchmarks for employers striving for gender equality in the workplace.

As the UK’s largest independent Full Fibre platform, CityFibre has experienced rapid growth following the launch of its up to £4 billion Gigabit City Investment Programme, which aims to bring Full Fibre infrastructure within reach of up to 8 million homes across the UK by 2025. To support the Programme, CityFibre is creating up to 10,000 jobs and working with its partners and advisors to maximise the diversity of applicants to its permanent roles and training programmes.

As part of a range of inclusivity initiatives, CityFibre established an employee-led Gender Network to create a space for gender issues and equality to be discussed without judgement, to challenge existing bias and to advocate for measurable change. It also launched the Aspiring Managers Programme and mentoring scheme, both of which will serve to support the career development of women in the business. Illustrating the progress being made, a recent staff survey showed that 93% of women at CityFibre would recommend it as a place to work to others.

Speaking of the achievement, Charlotte Woodworth, Gender Equality Director at Business in the Community, said: “COVID-19 has shone a light on how far we have to go on gender equality: by having to pick up things like the bulk of extra caring responsibilities, women have been disproportionately affected by lockdown. We congratulate the many employers who have maintained their efforts towards gender equality at this time, often introducing innovative policies to support their workforce during this period. This year’s application process for The Times Top 50 Employers for Women was the most competitive one we have seen in five years. Employers like CityFibre haven’t forgotten women at work and they are committed to making gender inequality a thing of the past.”

Greg Mesch, CEO at CityFibre, added: “We’re extremely proud of our people at CityFibre and of everything we’ve achieved together since we started a decade ago. Being recognised amongst the top 50 Employers for Women is testament to the inclusive, welcoming and supportive culture we’ve nurtured and to the enormous contribution made by our female colleagues. The challenge now is to build on the progress we’ve made, ensuring our business is representative of the diverse communities we serve and that everyone at CityFibre is given equal opportunity to achieve their professional aspirations.”