The Brightstar Group is holding a range of activities to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March.

This year’s theme is #InspireInclusion, and one of the celebrations will be an International Women’s Lunch, sponsored and hosted by Together, with whom the Brightstar Group enjoys a close working relationship.

In 2024, the campaign theme #InspireInclusion highlights the crucial role of inclusion in achieving gender equality. It calls for action to break down barriers, challenge stereotypes and create environments where all women are valued and respected. Inspire Inclusion encourages everyone to recognise the unique perspectives and contributions of women from all walks of life, including those from marginalised communities.

One of the key pillars of Inspire Inclusion is the promotion of diversity in leadership and decision-making positions, something that the Brightstar Group continues to focus on. Historically, women have faced barriers in financial services when seeking leadership and higher paid roles, but through dedicated programmes such as ‘Women into Management’ and ‘New Adviser Programme’, the organisation says it has been able to harness the full potential of diverse perspectives, which the Brightstar Group believes leads to better decision-making and innovation, as well as gender parity.

There is a 50/50 split between men and women for all management and leadership positions across the Group and 50% of advisers who have come from the company’s ‘Growing our Own’ approach being women.

Aligned with the Group’s commitment to supporting diversity and inclusion, everyone across the Group will be involved with the observance of International Women’s Day, continuing to work together to identify positive changes that can be made to help support women in the workplace and make it a more inclusive workplace for all.

Clare Jupp (pictured), group chief people officer at the Brightstar Group, said: “The Group continues to place a huge emphasis on diversity and inclusion in its entirety and our observance of International Women’s Day is a key event in our ongoing commitment to this. We are understandably proud of what our women contribute and achieve across our Brightstar, Sirius and Solstar businesses and it is easy for new women joining the business to identify strong role models and find inspiration from the career journeys and achievements of our women.

“We are delighted to be working with Together, who have made an impressive commitment to removing barriers, allowing all colleagues to realise their full potential. Their focus on women in leadership, disability, underrepresented ethnic groups and 50 plus, as well as their Togetherness groups represents exemplary practice.”