UK’s Top Firms Erase Mentions Of ‘DEI’ From Annual Reports
References to DEI on annual reports of FTSE 100 companies in the UK have declined, according to The Observer. Mentions of DEI, as well as the number of pages containing the phrase and revisions on it, fell by more than 16% compared to the annual reports for 85 companies in 2023 and 2024.
While references to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and revisions on the term decreased by 22%, the data points to influence from the US after President Trump revoked a six-decade-old executive order that prohibited workplace discrimination by federal contractors.
DEI changing in the UK
After the death of George Floyd in 2020, mentions of DEI and ESG in UK company reports increased overall. The removal of these references in the 2023 and 2024 reports came before his second term, highlighting a reversal. However, the recent erasure of DEI and ESG references from corporate reports, websites, and internal communications appears to have increased in 2025.
The methodology used to collect the data sought instances where any combination of DEI, DE&I, or the terms “diversity,” “inclusion,” “equity,” “equality,” and “fairness” was used in conjunction. Four firms in the FTSE 100 that used the term DEI liberally in 2023 have removed mentions of it.
Which UK firms have removed DEI terms?
Communications company WPP had small sections in its 2024 annual report on “gender,” “ethnic,” and “board” diversity, but has removed all mentions of the term in conjunction with “equity” and “inclusion.”
In 2024, medical tech maker Smith+Nephew and the InterContinental Hotels Group made two and one references, respectively, of DEI, a decrease from at least eight and 28 the previous year. However, both companies’ annual reports did mention diversity in different contexts.
Pershing Square Holdings, an investment fund managed by Bill Ackman, a Trump supporter, reduced its mentions of DEI from one to zero.
In April, the Trump administration urged some large companies in the EU to comply with executive orders to end DEI programs. Government officials allegedly sent letters to companies in France and the European Union with US government contracts, stating that they should ban DEI initiatives if they wish to retain their contracts.
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