Business secretary to unveil neurodiversity business forum for greater support
Business and banking heavyweights including Unilever and the Bank of England have launched a new forum for neurodivergent people in business.
The Neurodiversity in Business (NiB) forum is set to support the neurodivergent community in the workplace, taking into account the strengths and differences of “brain-wiring”.
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng will unveil the new body at Parliament tomorrow, alongside cross-party MP supports including Matt Hancock.
CEO Dan Harris told City A.M.: “It’s quite surprising and shocking that we don’t have this in the UK already. The big reaction I’ve had from my corporate peers is ‘why didn’t this happened 10 years ago?’
“For the first time, in the UK at least, we are now having an industry forum for organisations who are committed to creating newer, inclusive working environments.”
The new inclusivity body, Harris’ brainchild, seeks to tackle support for newer diversities which were previously considered “too hard to deal with” and highlight best practice to business players.
Conceptualised in late summer last year, Harris has built up the team and string of corporate heavyweight since Autumn.
“Most of the organisations we’re working with are global multinationals,” added Harris. “We’ve been overwhelmed with the membership…we’ve had really great cross-party support in parliament.
“For the first time as a collective, we have a common voice.”
Other businesses who help found the forum include AstraZeneca, KPMG, Lloyds Banking Group, Network Rail, Rolls-Royce, Sky and Virgin Media/O2.