Julie Adams-Moore, chief financial officer at Dual UK, explains how the MGA strives to be an inclusive employer, ensuring that diversity driven Pride Month activities are a taster of year-round commitments
As we move into July, I want to take a moment to reflect on Pride Month (June) – not just on how we as a business celebrated, but on how the broader insurance industry is progressing toward true inclusion.
At Dual, we believe Pride Month is more than a calendar event. It is a reminder of the responsibility we carry as leaders in the insurance sector to foster workplaces where everyone – regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or background – feels safe, seen and supported.
As a people first business, we want to attract the very best talent to help deliver our diverse and specialist propositions and, ultimately, support our clients to thrive in a changing world.
We know that celebrating the diversity of our teams is a key part in fostering greater employee engagement and retention because employees feel supported and respected.
Employees who are happy at work and feel safe to be themselves are more likely to be creative, productive and innovative.
Inclusive environments can also positively impact recruitment, with research from Deloitte confirming that 80% of job seekers want to work for inclusive companies. It is critical to our success that we attract the very best talent from all backgrounds, as well as simply being the right thing to do.
As the co-chair of Dual’s Employee Resource Group and the firm’s chief financial officer, I’m in the privileged position of having a platform to champion rights around both sexual orientation and gender across the business.
This is very important to me because to provide meaningful outcomes and push inclusivity and acceptance beyond words, businesses need leaders who are committed to these values. However, I also believe everyone has a role to play in living this culture.
More than just one month
From an organisational standpoint, key to sustaining this culture and ensuring employees are able to embrace their true identities all year round is turning Pride Month messages into actionable and meaningful outcomes.
At Dual, we conduct regular people surveys to build on our great culture and be an employer of choice. We were delighted that 87% of our employees responded to our last survey in 2024, with ‘people from all backgrounds are treated fairly’ being one of our top scoring questions.
At Dual, we not only have clear anti-discrimination policies, but we also positively advocate to support our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) community.
We have a dedicated employee resource group, called RESPECT, and hold regular events to build, support and strengthen our network.
We also invite allies to join us in order to break down barriers and – frankly – because our LGBTQ+ network has a lot of fun. For example, our flagship Pride Month event this year saw the return of our annual Drag Bingo fundraiser for the Terrence Higgins Trust, the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity.
At Dual, we are proud of the progress we’ve made so far – but we’re not stopping here.
Pride Month may be over, but our commitment to inclusion is year-round. We invite others across the industry to join us – not just in celebration, but in action.
