Recent events in America, and at home, plus of course #blackouttuesday have forced us all to ask are we really doing enough? You’ve put up your black square, you’ve shared your list of books to read but have you now just moved on?
After a call with our great friend and the UK’s number one interiors influencer Kate Watson-Smyth earlier this week, we were delighted to be asked to be part of a step in the right direction for the design community.
An initiative between Kate and esteemed interior designer Rukmini Patel, Design for Diversity wishes to fight for greater inclusivity within the design community – one of the most high profile industries to be called out for its lack of representation – and one that we, as an agency representing several luxury interiors brands, are very much a part of.
The campaign asks brands, blogs and businesses to commit to a pledge – a ‘sticker’ that sits on their website to show they are dedicated to change. By signing up to support Design for Diversity they, undertake to uphold the following:
1 Visibility
We pledge that our channels – our websites, blogs and social media – will endeavour to include people of every colour, gender and sexuality.
2 Opportunity
We pledge to seek out BAME candidates to interview for roles that arise in our businesses. We will always hire the best person for the job, but we promise to be more proactive in looking for more diverse candidates. We stop short of positive discrimination and we reject tokenism.
3 Accessibility
We pledge that any events we hold – be they panel discussions or talks, dinners, receptions, or media events – will endeavour to include people of all colours and genders.
It’s three simple promises, none of which are difficult to put into practice and stand by and any company can accept on the basis that they should have been doing already. But, by placing this sticker on their site we hope it will act like an open door for everyone.
Discussing our involvement in the campaign, founder Victoria Ruffy comments:
“Running a PR agency headquartered in Berkshire for almost ten years I am always on the hunt for PR superstars. We were recently struggling with applicants and have had limited success with recruitment agencies so I decided to outreach direct to potential candidates on LinkedIn. Many marketing / PR / English grads in our local area were from the BAME community but we very, very rarely have applicants who aren’t white.
By actively approaching these potential candidates I found they were super receptive to a role with us – really responsive on messenger, had super CVs with great portfolios. We were arranging a graduate recruitment day before lockdown hit which has now been postponed until August and I am super pleased the line-up of potential candidates includes over 50% from the BAME community. But I had to be proactive to make this happen. And that’s cool. What I’ve learnt is that it’s not enough to just say “all are welcome”. We need to kick open that front door and invite people in.
This process opened my eyes to how intimidating it is for any graduate, let alone one who may feel side-lined by the wider community, and as such has shown me I need to take an active role in promoting inclusivity within my company, the clients we represent, the team I manage, and the industry as a whole. With that I am psyched to be supporting Design for Diversity”.
Little Red 
will be exclusively launching Design for Diversity in the UK to press. For further info on the campaign, pleas contact isabelle@littleredpr.co.uk.
If you would like further info or to sign up to the pledge, please visit www.madaboutthehouse.com or www.rukminipatel.com.
We are always on the lookout for fresh talent to join our agency and we actively encourage members of the BAME community to apply for a role here at Little Red . To do so, please send your CV and covering letter to victoria@littleredpr.co.uk.
