Employees from poorer backgrounds face almost two years longer to reach senior positions in financial services than their more privileged peers, according to new data exposing entrenched barriers to progression across the sector.
The findings come from a new report by UK socioeconomic diversity organisation Progress Together, produced in collaboration with the Bridge Group, a social equality consultancy based at the Bank of England. Drawing on data from 210,000 employees across 40 firms, it is the largest study of its kind in the industry.
The research found that workers from lower socioeconomic backgrounds take 16 percent longer to progress into senior roles than colleagues from privileged backgrounds. Senior leadership across the sector remains dominated by those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, with diverse talent pipelines often stalling before the top.
Privilege remains the strongest predictor of success
The report says socioeconomic background remains the single strongest predictor of who reaches senior leadership in financial services. In over half of the firms surveyed, no senior leaders came from both an ethnic minority and a lower socioeconomic background.
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Men from privileged backgrounds were found to be 3.4 times more likely to reach senior roles than women from less advantaged backgrounds. The report also highlighted London’s dominance in the industry, with the capital accounting for more than half of all senior jobs despite being the least socioeconomically diverse region.
Vincent Keaveny CBE, chair of Progress Together and former Lord Mayor of London, said the findings showed that financial services could not afford to waste potential.
“Financial services is a powerhouse of the UK economy, but its future competitiveness depends on whether we unlock talent from every background,” he said. “Right now, too much potential is being wasted. That’s not just unjust; it’s economically self-defeating. We must ensure socioeconomic inclusion is a central driver of growth. If we miss it, we risk entrenching old patterns that hold back both people and productivity.”
Calls for government and regulators to act
Progress Together and the Bridge Group are urging government, regulators and employers to act decisively to improve social mobility in the sector. The report calls on the government to embed socioeconomic diversity into national and local growth and skills strategies, ensuring that upskilling and reskilling programmes reach people from all backgrounds.
It also recommends that the Financial Conduct Authority explicitly include socioeconomic background within its non-financial misconduct guidance to make clear that exclusionary practices are incompatible with cultural reform. In addition, the report calls on employers to require executive search firms to broaden candidate pools for senior positions.
Jenny Baskerville, chief executive of the Bridge Group, said progress remained too slow.
“This year’s dataset shows progress is too slow, regional gaps persist and privilege still dominates the top jobs,” she said. “Successful, performance-driven firms will be those turning data into action – embedding accountability, evidence-backed interventions and inclusion as levers for growth. At this critical juncture for the sector, the time for accelerating action on socioeconomic inclusion is now.”
Risk of talent loss as workforce ages
Progress Together warned that without urgent action, the UK risks entrenching privilege at the top of financial services and weakening competitiveness at a time of rapid workforce change. The Financial Services Skills Commission has estimated that around 260,000 skilled workers will leave the sector through retirement and attrition by 2035, creating what Progress Together described as a “moment of opportunity” to rebuild the workforce more inclusively.
The Commission said the government should treat socioeconomic inclusion as a driver of productivity and growth rather than as a diversity issue alone. The report argues that ensuring fair access to leadership roles can improve performance and reduce the waste of skilled talent.
Broader inequalities persist
The findings mirror wider national trends. According to the Sutton Trust, Britain’s top jobs remain dominated by the privately educated, who are five times more likely to reach positions of power than those who attended state schools. Progress Together said such disparities were not only unfair but risked damaging long-term competitiveness by narrowing the talent pipeline.
The organisation, which was formed in 2022 following a government-backed taskforce commissioned by HM Treasury and the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is the UK’s membership body dedicated to improving socioeconomic diversity in financial services. Its partners include major firms such as Accenture, Aviva, City of London, EY, PwC, Santander and Schroders.
It said it would continue working with members to provide benchmarking data, peer learning and tools to help employers make measurable progress.
