SETSquared Bristol launches BAME diversity and inclusion project

The lack of black and minority ethnic (BAME) people in business demonstrates a failure that is detrimental to Bristol’s economy, as well as individuals.

But a pioneering initiative is driving the change required to ensure top leadership and entrepreneurial roles better reflect the city’s diversity.

SETsquared Bristol, a tech business accelerator based at the Engine Shed, has partnered with Ashley Community Housing (ACH) and Up Our Street (UOS) to identify barriers faced by BAME communities and help break them down, to ensure those with the right skills get the support required.

Lead project researcher Zakiya Mckenzie, of UOS, said: “We are very happy to be conducting research for an organisation that is willing to ‘walk the walk’ and not just ‘talk the talk’ where diversity is concerned.

“SETsquared Bristol is moving in the right direction, as there are quite a few hidden gems in BAME Bristol’s communities and it would be of benefit to the city as a whole to have these groups more integrated into Bristol’s business ecosystem.”

Research from 2017 shows that just four of SETsquared Bristol’s current members have BAME founders, despite the fact that they make up 16 per cent of the overall population.

Currently, 28 per cent of school children across the city are from BAME backgrounds, meaning the non-white workforce will more than double in the next generation of workers.

In response to current inequalities, SETsquared Bristol has launched this research project to identify the barriers that prevent BAME entrepreneurs applying to the accelerator for business support, and how to attract a consistently larger amount of BAME applicants.

In 2016, the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership identified the three main issues facing BAME businesses to be poverty and deprivation in areas with large BAME communities, holistic knowledge of business finance, and red tape and regulations.

The same study also found that ‘BAME groups and business leaders are less likely to engage in mainstream business support’, but that 95 per cent of businesses surveyed hoped to grow within the next year.

ACH is a social enterprise that works to resettle refugees through housing and skills training. The organisation won a prestigious Lloyds Bank National Business Award for the social impact it has on the city and beyond:

Director Abdi Mohamed said: “This is a great initiative because it will give us an opportunity to explore the skills and experience that the BAME community can offer the high tech industry in Bristol, along with the challenges they face.”

ACH and community magazine UOS will work together to determine the BAME applicant pool of entrepreneurs, businesses, and founders with the potential to apply to SETsquared Bristol.

The report, with findings and recommendations for engaging with diverse entrepreneurs, will be submitted at the end of May 2018.

SETsquared’s diversity and inclusivity project was launched just weeks after the Stepping UP scheme, an initiative of Bristol City Council and partner organisations, aimed at improving the representation of BAME communities in leadership roles.

Main image: L-R: Ali Hassan (ACH), Kuba Jablonowski (UOS), Jasmine Ketibuah-Foley (UOS), Zakiya McKenzie (UOS), Abdi Mohamed (ACH).

Read more: BAME leadership program to change face of business in Bristol