Following the recent strides made in increasing female representation in the real estate finance sector, it's crucial that organisations continue to drive long-term change to foster an inclusive environment that offers equitable opportunities to every individual. In this article, we discuss the steps STB has taken to promote inclusivity and the further action that can be undertaken to ensure progress.

The real estate market is one of the economy's most influential sectors, and it's more important than ever to promote an equitable, diverse and inclusive work culture to each and every person working in the industry. A traditionally male-dominated sector, organisations far and wide are rolling out a plethora of initiatives and strategies to showcase their commitment to catalysing change.

So, what steps are we taking to provide more with the opportunity to get into real estate finance?

Understanding first-hand experiences

For those keen to find out how to get into real estate finance, we spoke to some of our female colleagues about their experiences in the sector.

Ellen Smith, Service Delivery & Governance Director, is responsible for many of the operations and organisational structure of the real estate finance division. Ellen has played a pivotal role in restructuring the support teams to provide colleagues with the opportunity to specialise in leadership, customer due diligence and relationship management.

She said: "I joined Secure Trust Bank in 2015, when the real estate division was less than a year old. My strong passion for driving continuous improvement has been reflected in the growth of the business and the development of our fantastic team. Training initiatives like our leading REF Academy and the REF ICE accreditation programme are both fitting examples of how the industry is collectively striving towards an inclusive future.

"It's important to acknowledge that everyone comes from a different background with a range of experiences that have helped to shape them. If we want to get the most out of our organisation by helping each colleague to achieve their potential, we must encourage everyone to contribute from their unique perspective. We are proud to have female representation across all senior levels of the business, including the board, our executive committee, legal counsel, credit, corporate governance, and relationship directors."

Paula Willoughby, Senior Legal Counsel, has worked in real estate finance for over two decades, and said: "While I have had the pleasure of working with some fabulous and inspirational female role models in this time, it is still very much a male-dominated environment. As a result, we must all take a collective responsibility in doing all we can to attract and retain women in the sector. For change to have a lasting and beneficial result, a sense of urgency is required to create a real motivating force. Change doesn't just happen, it requires a will, a passion, and a focus. We are wholeheartedly committed to seeing this change become a reality.

"For any organisation looking to make change, this requires a comprehensive and sustained effort with complete commitment from the business to develop initiatives including establishing inclusive policies to promote diversity and ensuring they address any gender bias, creating a supportive environment for women in finance by offering flexible working arrangements and adopting recruitment practices to minimise unconscious bias. Any strategy must be more than a 'tick in the box' and therefore requires transparency, accountability, and performance metrics to measure against targets."

Julie Percy, who has recently received a promotion to Relationship Support Manager for the Relationship Support Specialists, added: "I have been in banking my entire working life and my path has taken many twists and turns, but I have always been able to maintain a work-life balance and achieve my aspirations to have a family while continuing a career predominantly in real estate finance. To this day, I still get excited as we near drawdowns of facilities and the pressure ramps up as last-minute challenges are unearthed that require out-of-the-box thinking to be resolved. I applied for my new role as I could see the vision of the role playing to my passion of continuing with the lending transactions all while managing a team of colleagues that will benefit from my knowledge and experience.

"Secure Trust Bank is keen to encourage the development of its staff and we are a team of aspirational people looking to progress. I want to be part of their development and, by becoming a Relationship Support Manager, I hope to mentor each member of my team to achieve their own goals."

Suzie Gooder also received a recent promotion to Relationship Support Manager for the Relationship Onboarding Specialists, she said: "Having worked in the banking industry for 22 years, I have noticed the grass roots starting to show in terms of recognising the importance of supporting everyone to make the best contribution they can, regardless of gender, race, sexuality or any other characteristic. I certainly don't like to think that women get where they do just to tick a box. We get there through hard work and determination like everyone else, and STB provides the recognition we've earned.

"Most recently I've noticed this change in my new role where, initially, I was made responsible for the onboarding of new customers. I've found my observations and feedback have been welcomed and quickly implemented to make huge improvements across the whole department. I have since undertaken professional qualifications in Customer Due Diligence and, as a result of the knowledge gained, I have now been assigned my own team to share my insight and experience with.

"The thing I've noticed since turning 40 last year is that I feel it's my time. My son is 13 now and, despite his additional needs (ADHD and autism), we are at a point where he can do more for himself. This has opened more time for me to do things for myself such as taking on the promotion and external qualifications. I would never have done these things, but STB's flexibility regarding working at home has really supported me."

Benita Haines, Credit Operations Manager, said: "STB continues to take important steps to support its female colleagues while recognising there is still much more to do in the industry. For me, the option of flexible working arrangements has also helped to balance my work life and family commitments. Hybrid working and the ability to compress hours has enabled me to continue growing my career while juggling the challenges of being a working parent.

"I originally joined STB as a Relationship Support Manager while pregnant. Following my return from maternity leave, I was promoted to the role of Relationship Support Manager for London and have since joined the risk team as Credit Operations Manager. I'd always had an interest in operational risk, so when the role in credit arose, it felt like the right fit for my skills. It is encouraging to see that equity, diversity and inclusion, which includes the protected characteristic of gender, is central to the STB Group's strategy for future success."

Ensuring progress

We are proud to be a signatory of the Women in Finance Charter, building on the significant work we have already undertaken that has resulted in our organisation being named a UK Best Workplace for Women and being awarded the Silver Tide Mark by the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion.

Launched in 2016, the HM Treasury's Women in Finance Charter reflects the government's aspirations to create a gender balance at all levels across financial service firms. A balanced workforce is good for business, customers and, most importantly, the workplace culture. By signing up, we pledged to promote gender diversity by:

• Having one member of our senior executive team who is responsible and accountable for gender diversity and inclusion
• Setting internal targets for gender diversity in senior management
• Publishing progress annually against these targets
• Intending to link the pay of the senior executive team to delivery against these internal targets on gender diversity

Following the success of our stage one targets set when we first signed up in June 2022, we have now set and published further targets with a commitment to reporting progress against them at the end of the year, including:

• Maintain a minimum of 30% female representation on our executive committee by the end of 2025 (30% in December 2023)
• Increase female representation in senior management to 30% by the end of 2025 (22% in December 2023)
• Maintain a minimum 50% rate of female participants in leadership programmes during the calendar year (58% in December 2023)
• Ensure at least 75% of flexible working requests are accepted (94% in December 2023)
• Involve a minimum of 50% female participation  in mentoring programmes as mentees by the end of 2024 (65% in December 2023)

Other initiatives introduced to support our strategy include the Blazing My Trail development programme, designed to help colleagues to build the confidence required to progress their careers. Similarly, our Mentor Me programme is open to everyone, but encourages our senior female team members to share their valuable insights and experience in the real estate finance sector to help mentor and guide our junior female colleagues along their own career path. 

Visualising success

While it's important to celebrate the success experienced so far in striving for change, there is still a long road ahead to achieve total equity, diversity and inclusion in the real estate market sector, and continued commitment is required to overhaul the industry. Incremental changes can truly make a monumental difference, like conducting regular wellbeing, awareness and support sessions, forming partnerships with DEI experts or promoting 'inclusioneer' workforce champions established for all protected characteristics.

If you're interested in finding out how to start a career in real estate finance, read our recent Insights article on the importance of banking on the next generation of real estate finance professionals.