Team member greeting customers

GREENE KING FURTHERS COMMITMENT TO INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY BY LAUNCHING NEW GENDER IDENTITY POLICY

Greene King launches new Gender Identity Policy as part of its continued support of LGBTQ+ team members
Greene King’s LGBTQ+ employee-led inclusion group, The Village Greene, plays key role in shaping new policy and support tools
Recent research from Greene King shows that employers need to be doing more to support members of the LGBTQ+ community in the workplace.


Leading pub company and brewer, Greene King, has launched its new Gender Identity Policy, which offers support and reassurance for LGBTQ+ team members who are transitioning at work or who identify as a different identity to which they were born. Line managers will also receive guidance on how they can support team members before, during and after they transition.  

To help fellow team members to understand the issues affecting the community, the policy demonstrates how they can become allies to support their LGBTQ+ colleagues, such as including pronouns on their email addresses and signatures, to not only show support and respect for the gender identity of others but also as a way to help remove assumptions around a person’s gender.

This is the latest initiative that Greene King’s award-winning LGBTQ+ employee-led inclusion group, The Village Greene, has supported the company with, playing an integral role in influencing the design and development of the new policy, with the company consulting with and listening to members of the group throughout its creation.

This follows research conducted by Greene King, which revealed that less than a third of Brits (28%) feel that their workplace adequately supports the LGBTQ+ community.  In a list of ways that employers can support the community, having a dedicated gender identity policy (25%) was voted second, closely following the use of pronouns (30%).  

Andrew Bush, Greene King’s chief people and transformation officer, said: “This is another step in our journey towards Everyday Inclusion, where we want our team members to feel welcome and comfortable to be their true authentic selves at work, and valued for their contribution regardless of their gender identity. 

“Consulting and listening to members of The Village Greene, to properly understand the issues affecting this part of the LGBTQ+ community and to gain their insight into what the policy should include, has been invaluable.  It means we now have a policy in place that can support team members as they transition at work or with their chosen gender identity.”

Alice Bowerman, co-chairperson of The Village Greene said: "This new policy and the support guide for managers will help provide team members with the reassurance that Greene King is there to support them no matter what their gender identity is.  The Village Greene will continue to ensure inclusivity is at the heart of all we do, and help educate, advocate and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and team members.” 

The new gender identity policy is the latest in a number of improvements and investments the pub company and brewer is undertaking towards providing its people with an environment where they can thrive and develop a rewarding career.  Greene King also launched its Inclusive Leadership training programme in September 2022 to all managers across the business and is in the process of reviewing its policies to reflect the values the company is embracing.