We are passionate about creating a sustainable working environment, where everyone can be themselves and belong.

Employee engagement and People Development

In 2020 we were delighted to be named as the number one ‘Best Small Company to Work For in the UK’ by the Sunday Times for a second consecutive year. In addition, we’re extremely proud to have secured the highest ever score in the history of the competition for people engagement and to be the first company from any industry to top the list for two years in a row. We were also awarded the ‘Best Innovation Award’ for our outstanding ‘Brightstar Partners’ initiative.

We were extremely proud to achieve Investor in People Gold status in 2016, then the title of Global Investors in People Gold Employer of the Year in 2017. Working in the Investor in People way, we’re fully committed to upholding this incredibly high standard for people management. The standard defines what it takes to lead, support and manage people for sustained success and is split into a huge range of performance indicators across numerous skill areas.

Equally, we are proud to have been a Living Wage Employer since 2016, recognising that all team members deserve a wage which helps them to meet everyday needs. We also recognise that paying a living wage is an investment in the long term prosperity of the economy as well as a way to ensure increased worker morale, worker health and improved quality of service.

Diversity and Inclusion

At Brightstar we embrace diversity in its widest sense, ensuring that individuals’ differences can be expressed, embraced and are valued. We strongly believe that strength lies in difference and that diversity in our team brings diversity in ideas and contributions.

In 2016, Brightstar became a signatory for the HM Treasury led ‘Women in Finance Charter’. This is a pledge for gender balance across financial services and since becoming a signatory, we’ve seen a vigorous, full team commitment to equal access to opportunity, people development, progression and success for everyone in the business, regardless of gender. Our recruitment practices, people development work and inclusive culture have led to the eradication of our gender pay gap and we are also proud to be a leading light in the industry when it comes to driving the Charter and supporting other organisations in making the pledge.

Mental health and Wellbeing

We have made an ongoing commitment to supporting good mental health and in encouraging and open and non-judgmental work culture. We have assembled a team of Mental Health First Aiders across the Group to offer support and raise awareness about mental health issues and during the pandemic we introduced our largest ever programme of activities at the offices of Brightstar Financial and Sirius Property Finance during Mental Health Awareness Week. Our programme aimed to support our team members with the challenges that they might be facing and to help them develop positive habits and techniques in the future. One such initiative was the launch of the Brightstar Group Talking Groups, which are led by a member of the Mental Health First Aider Team. Our Wellbeing Programme supports wellbeing in every sense; offering advice around nutrition, relaxation, meditation and mindfulness whilst encouraging exercise, a healthy work life balance and time out in our specially allocated Wellbeing Room when needed.

Green credentials and the quest for carbon neutrality

In line with our value of operating ethically, the Brightstar Group believes that it is important to protect the natural environment and to consider and address the environmental impact that we make. As such, we are committed to becoming a carbon neutral business and we have a clear plan in place to make this happen:

• Cut back on using energy and resources whenever we can
• Make an investment in energy saving resources
• Encourage green commuting wherever possible
• Implement a recycling strategy
• Empower, involve and encourage our team by means of out ‘Green Machine’ steering group

Commitment to young learners

Our Young Learners programme focuses on the potential of young people and the contribution that they can make to our business and the sector as a whole. It offers everything from work experience placements, internships and also taster days for young people interested in pursuing careers in financial services. It has also been a valuable source of new employees for the business as well as being an excellent way of embracing diversity and inclusion within the business through focusing on encouraging more young people and women into financial services and operating within a work culture that encourages a fantastic range of applicants in terms of all protected characteristics. Alongside this, our Sirius Academy and Brightstar Young Learners Programme ensures that new, ‘young blood’ is continually encouraged into the business and to the sector, making a strong contribution to the creation of a new generation of brokers for Financial Services. We fully embrace a ‘growing your own’ and ‘teachers and learners’ approach to people development, which is pivotal to the Group’s unique and award-winning work culture. Every team member is considered to be engaged in ongoing ‘learning’ and also responsible for ‘teaching’, supporting and nurturing colleagues.

A further aspect of our Young Learners Programme is our Young Brightstars Programme, which aims to support young, promising athletes from a multitude of sporting disciplines. Through this sponsorship programme, we recognise and support young people on their journey to success, closely observing their progress to county and national representation.