Lloyd’s apologises for its ties to the slave trade
The insurance firm has issued an apology for its ‘shameful’ role in the in the 18th and 19th Century Atlantic slave trade
In company statement, Lloyd’s of London said: “We are sorry for the role played by the Lloyd’s market in the 18th and 19th Century slave trade – an appalling and shameful period of English history, as well as our own.
“Recent events have shone a spotlight on the inequality that black people have experienced over many years as a result of systematic and structural racism that has existed in many aspects of society and unleashed difficult conversations that were long overdue.”
Following this, Lloyd’s has vowed to build a move inclusive culture in the insurance marketplace. The company has announced a number of new initiatives to help improve the experience of Black and Minority Ethnic talent in the Lloyd’s market: it will invest in positive programmes to attract, retain and develop Black and Minority Ethnic talent in the Lloyd’s market; it will review its employee and partner policies, as well as its organisational artefacts, to ensure that they are explicitly non-racist; it has committed to conduct education and research into the experiences of Black and Ethnic Minority professionals working in insurance, and will share what it learns with the market; it will provide financial support to charities and organisations promoting opportunity and inclusion for Black and Ethnic minority groups; and it will develop a long-term action plan in collaboration with its Culture Advisory Group, Black and Minority Ethnic colleagues and white allies, who, it says, will inform the company’s journey and hold it to account.