Our Commitments

Social Investment Scotland (SIS) is a Disability Confident Employer, progressing to Level 2 of the Disability Confident Scheme.

Disability Confident is creating a movement of change, encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. It was developed by employers and disabled people’s representatives to make it rigorous but easily accessible, particularly for smaller businesses.

Being Disability Confident is a unique opportunity to lead the way in our community, and SIS's progression to Level 2 highlights the collective effort and commitment we are taking to make lasting change to our business, embedding a disability-inclusive culture.

Social Investment Scotland (SIS) is committed to a culture of inclusion and to advancing access to capital for women entrepreneurs. SIS will:

• Nominate a member of the senior leadership team to be responsible for supporting equality in all our organisation’s interactions with women entrepreneurs;
• Adopt internal practices that aim to improve female entrepreneurs’ access to the tools, resources and finance they need to grow their businesses, and review these practices annually;
• Provide to an industry body designated by BEIS a commonly agreed set of data about our organisation’s investing or lending activities and about its own staff and leadership team, together with a case study of our organisation’s work with a woman entrepreneur, on the understanding that they will collate this data and provide it to BEIS on an aggregated and anonymised basis for publication in an annual report.

SIS will make this commitment public.

The activities we are undertaking to advancing access to capital for women entrepreneurs include:

• Working collaboratively with key partners to raise the profile of SIS’s Investing in Women commitment including Women’s Enterprise Scotland and Changing the Chemistry CIC.
• Showcasing successful women entrepreneurs across our external facing materials and at events.
• Ensuring female perspectives are represented across internal Investment Committees.
• Engaging diversity-smart recruitment practices to build diverse perspectives across the SIS team, including a focus on attracting and retaining women at all levels.

Find more about the Investing in Women Code here.

The Diversity Forum are a collective on a mission to drive inclusive social investment in the UK, through the convening of sector-wide groups, commissioning research, and knowledge sharing. 

By working transparently and collaboratively on shared goals and aims, organisations can be held accountable and access support from fellow signatories and the Diversity Forum.

As part of the social investment sector, the Diversity Forum's ambition is to address inequalities and disadvantage in the UK, and promoting diversity and inclusion in its broadest sense should be an important part of this.

Find more about the Diversity Forum here.

SIS is now an accredited Living Hours Employer. This accreditation builds on Social Investment Scotland's (SIS) existing Living Wage Employer commitment, which sees everyone working at SIS receive a minimum hourly pay of the real Living Wage, currently £13.45 in the UK or £14.80 in London. The Living Hours commitment will see everyone working at SIS guaranteed at least 4 weeks’ notice of shifts, with guaranteed payment if shifts are cancelled within this period; the right to a contract that accurately reflects hours worked; and a guaranteed minimum of 16 hours of work a week to all who want it.

Katherine Chapman, Director, Living Wage Foundation said: “SIS joins a growing list of hundreds of businesses, including abrdn, Aviva and SSE, committing to Living Hours. They, like SIS, recognise that jobs with decent pay and secure hours are good for workers, good for business and good for society, ensuring work that works for everyone.”

SIS is now an accredited Living Pension Employer. This accreditation builds on Social Investment Scotland's (SIS) existing Living Wage Employer commitment, which sees everyone working at SIS receive a minimum hourly pay of the real Living Wage, currently £13.45 in the UK or £14.80 in London.

As an early adopter of Living Pension, our commitment will raise the standard of pension savings so their employees to live with dignity in retirement. Living Pension provides stability and security for our workers now and in the future, encouraging employers like SIS to do more to help their workers build a pension pot that provides a decent standard of living in retirement.

For organisations wanting to demonstrate their commitment as a responsible employer, Living Wage accreditation is the best place to start. By paying the real Living Wage, employers are voluntarily taking a stand to ensure their employees can earn a wage which is enough to live on. That basic fairness is at the heart of what the Living Wage campaign is trying to achieve and why great businesses and organisations choose to go further than the government minimum. As well as it being the right thing to do, there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the business benefits of becoming a Living Wage Employer.

SIS is both an accredited Living Wage Employer and a Scottish Living wage employer. 

The Women in Finance Charter commits HM Treasury and signatory firms to work together to build a more balanced and fair industry.

Social Investment Scotland signed the charter in September 2020. We have made and renewed the following commitments: -

• Alastair Davies, our CEO, is our senior executive team member who is responsible and accountable for gender diversity and inclusion.

• As of October 2026, we have 33% female representation in our Leadership Team. Our target was to reach at least 40% by December 2026.

• Each of our Leadership Team annual performance appraisals will include a review of gender diversity targets and commitments.

• The activities we are undertaking to achieve our gender targets include minimising bias in the recruitment process and adopting and encouraging flexible working practices. We strive to be an advocate for gender diversity in the social investment sector and commit to monitoring and influencing board diversity amongst our partners, suppliers and of those who we support.

Last updated: 2 October 2026

Find more about the Women in Finance Charter here.

Dechomai’s mission is to empower ethnic minority entrepreneurs by fostering success through idea support and enterprise development. Its current focus is on courses and a forthcoming marketplace, aiming to comprehensively empower Black and Ethnic minority female entrepreneurs on their entrepreneurial journey.

The ‘Access’ project is a collaboration between Dechomai, Firstport and SIS, which comprises a programme of events and outreach with ethnic minority communities and Scotland’s social investors to enhance connection and networks, and for the investors to understand needs, perceptions and barriers around accessing social investment.

Find more about Dechomai here.

As a member of Future Asset, Social Investment Scotland (SIS) is committed to helping create a more inclusive and diverse financial services sector. We support Future Asset's work to broaden access to careers in finance, investment and related industries in Scotland, through targeted opportunities for girls and young women.

Through our membership, we contribute to initiatives that build confidence, develop skills and broaden access to opportunities for future talent. By supporting Future Asset, we are helping to strengthen the talent pipeline for Scotland's financial services sector while advancing our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

We believe improving access to financial careers benefits individuals, organisations and the wider economy, helping to create a sector that is more representative, resilient and equipped for the future.

Find more about Future Asset here.