Designed to create meaningful engagement between Disabled entrepreneurs and the financial services sector in the UK, the Disability Finance Code is a practical framework for change.
Developed in collaboration with the Department for Business and Trade, the Lilac Review Steering Board, the British Business Bank and UK Finance, the Code aims to break down barriers and increase access to finance for disabled-led businesses.
The Code is proudly supported by leading financial institutions including Barclays, HSBC UK, Lloyds Bank and NatWest, each committed to driving inclusive change.
Signatories of the DFCE commit to:
Inclusive design - Apply and refine inclusive design principles across products and services, ensuring accessibility from the ground up.
Support for disabled founders - Provide targeted mentoring, networking, finance-readiness education and business-planning support specifically for disabled entrepreneurs.
Evidence sharing - Showcase success stories of disabled-led businesses accessing finance and growing, to encourage transparency, learning and trust.
Representation - Promote the representation of disabled colleagues within financial services organisations, recognising that inclusive staffing strengthens inclusive service.
Research from the Lilac Review revealed consistent barriers that Disabled entrepreneurs face when accessing finance, including:
This Code aims to change that, making financial services genuinely "open for business" to Disabled entrepreneurs.
If you’re a financial institution or Disabled entrepreneur interested in the Code, we'd like to hear from you.
The more organisations that commit and the more diverse entrepreneurs engage, the stronger the shift toward inclusive finance becomes.
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