Mott MacDonald’s UK and Europe EDI team consists of just two dedicated professionals supporting a workforce of thousands across a large, complex organisation. Despite its size, the team has fundamentally transformed how equality, diversity and inclusion is embedded across the business, demonstrating that meaningful organisational change is driven by influence, evidence and collaboration rather than the size of a team.
Our philosophy has always been that inclusion should not sit alongside the business,it should be integrated into how the business operates. Rather than focusing on standalone awareness campaigns, we have embedded inclusion throughout the employee lifecycle, influencing how people are recruited, developed, promoted and supported.
Every initiative begins with evidence. We combine workforce data, employee engagement results, benchmarking, focus groups and employee network feedback to identify the barriers having the greatest impact on colleagues’ experiences. This evidence-based approach ensures that resources are focused where they create meaningful and measurable change.
Over recent years, we have transformed recruitment by embedding inclusive hiring practices across attraction, assessment and selection. Structured interviews, objective assessment methods, diverse interview panels, inclusive hiring guidance and the removal of unnecessary barriers have created a fairer recruitment process while improving representation across multiple protected characteristics.
Recognising that attracting diverse talent alone is insufficient, we have also invested heavily in progression and leadership development. We developed Aspire, our ethnicity leadership programme, Reciprocal Mentoring, Women in Leadership and a range of inclusive leadership initiatives that strengthen confidence, increase sponsorship and improve access to career opportunities for underrepresented colleagues. These programmes have been designed collaboratively with employees, senior leaders and external partners to ensure they address genuine organisational needs rather than perceived ones.
Alongside talent initiatives, we have worked to strengthen organisational culture by introducing practical resources that support inclusive leadership in everyday practice. These include guidance on psychological safety, sexual harassment prevention, meaningful career conversations, return-to-work support and inclusive leadership. Rather than producing policies that sit on shelves, we focus on practical tools that help managers make more inclusive decisions every day.
Our approach is underpinned by shared accountability. Inclusion is not owned solely by the EDI team. Executive leaders sponsor employee networks and initiatives, business units develop their own EDI action plans and leaders are expected to champion inclusive recruitment, development and progression. This distributed leadership model has helped embed inclusion into mainstream business decision-making rather than treating it as a separate agenda.
The impact has been measurable. Since 2021, women’s representation has increased from 31.7% to 35.7%, with senior female representation increasing from 16.7% to 25%. Women accounted for 42% of promotions in 2026 despite representing 35.7% of the workforce. Ethnic diversity increased from 17% to 20.1%, while ethnic minority colleagues represented over a quarter of hires and almost a quarter of promotions. Disability representation also increased significantly alongside improved recruitment and progression outcomes. These improvements demonstrate not only greater representation, but fairer access to opportunity throughout the employee lifecycle.
Our influence extends well beyond Mott MacDonald. We work with organisations including the Royal Academy of Engineering, share good practice through conferences and industry events, and collaborate with clients and partners to improve inclusion across the engineering and infrastructure sector. Our initiatives, including Reciprocal Mentoring, have been adopted within joint ventures and shared with organisations such as HS2, demonstrating impact beyond our own workforce.
Our work has also received significant external recognition, including Clear Assured Platinum Accreditation, Disability Confident Leader status, inclusion in the Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality, recognition as a Top 50 Inclusive Employer and inclusion in Glassdoor’s Top 50 UK Employers.
What makes this team exceptional is not simply the number of initiatives we have delivered, but our ability to create sustainable organisational change. Through strategic influence, evidence-based decision-making and strong partnerships, a two-person team has embedded inclusion into everyday business practice, strengthened leadership accountability and delivered measurable improvements in representation, progression and employee experience. Our success demonstrates that when inclusion becomes part of business strategy rather than a standalone programme,
Mott MacDonald Equity, Diversity and Inclusion team | Birmingham, UK
