Women in Finance Charter

First Enterprise is proud to be a signatory to HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter, supporting the ambition to improve gender balance across the financial services sector.

The Charter is a commitment by organisations to take practical steps to increase the representation of women in senior roles and to create a more inclusive and equitable industry.

As of 2026, only 18% of UK companies are led by women, while across all managerial positions, women hold 41% of roles compared to 59% by men.

The gender pay gap in the financial services sector is slowly shrinking, but as of 2026 still remains at nearly 30% for salaries and is even larger at nearly 40% for bonuses.

At First Enterprise, we’re committed to working towards solving these systemic problems and creating a more balanced workplace.

What is the Women in Finance Charter?

Launched by HM Treasury in 2016, the Women in Finance Charter aims to improve gender diversity within senior management across financial services organisations.

Signatories commit to:

Having a named senior leader accountable for gender diversity and inclusion

Setting targets for gender diversity in senior management

Holding senior leadership accountable for the delivery of these targets

Publishing progress against these targets annually

How First Enterprise is supporting the Women in Finance Charter

Our target

We have set a clear and measurable target of women holding 50% of senior management roles.

This target has already been achieved, and we are committed to maintaining this level of representation as we grow.

In addition, we are working towards a minimum of 50% female representation across our entire workforce.

Our commitment

We are committed to maintaining strong gender balance across our organisation, reflecting both the communities we serve and the businesses we support.

As of May 2026, we have:

A total workforce of 28 employees
Female employees accounting for 46% of our staff
Six women in senior management roles
An equal gender split across our senior management (50% female representation).

Senior management at First Enterprise is defined as being a Head of Department.

Senior leadership accountability and pay

We do not operate a variable pay or bonus structure for our senior executive team. Remuneration is based on their role, responsibilities and experience rather than performance-related incentives.

As a result, pay is not directly linked to gender diversity targets.

Yet, accountability for achieving and maintaining gender balance sits with the senior leadership team and is reflected through:

Performance management
Organisational objectives
Regular reporting to the board
Our ongoing commitment.

How we deliver against this

Rather than treating this as a standalone target, gender balance is built into how we recruit, manage, and develop our team.

Our approach includes:

Inclusive recruitment practices to ensure diverse candidate pools and a fair selection process
Clear progression opportunities to support career development into senior roles
Flexible working arrangements to support different working patterns and responsibilities
Regular performance checks to ensure our senior leaders remain responsible and accountable for delivering our ongoing commitments.

Given the size of our organisation, maintaining balance is as much about day-to-day decisions as it is about formal targets.

We recognise that achieving gender balance is not a one-off milestone but something that needs to be sustained over time.

As an organisation focused on supporting underserved entrepreneurs, including female business owners, this commitment is central to both how we operate internally and how we deliver externally.

We will continue to monitor our progress and publish updates annually in line with the Women in Finance Charter requirements.