Latest news with #Sensodyne-maker
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ocado waters down ethnic minority targets as bosses go cold on DEI
Ocado has watered down targets to get more ethnic minority people into senior roles amid a wider rollback of diversity initiatives within corporate Britain. The London-listed technology company, which jointly owns online grocer Ocado Retail with M&S, said its goal of having 10pc of senior management roles made up of people from ethnic minorities had been pushed back to 2030 from its previous target of 2027. It comes as a growing wave of companies rein in so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies following a crackdown by Donald Trump in the US. The US president has banned DEI programmes at federal agencies and ended government contracts with 'woke companies' that continue to adopt these policies. Ocado has been increasing its workforce in the US after securing a deal with the supermarket Kroger to supply it with the technology which powers its robotic delivery warehouses. Ocado insisted it remained committed to DEI and said the target had been delayed because its 'strong rate of retention among senior managers' meant it was unlikely to hit the 10pc goal before then. At the end of its latest financial year, the level stood at 5.6pc of senior management, up from 4.5pc the prior year. A spokesman said: 'It does not reflect any change in our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and we are making good progress across our other goals in these areas which extend across the business and our pipeline of talent. 'We strongly believe that diversity is a key driver of innovation and these targets are important for us to maintain our position as one of the UK's most innovative technology businesses.' Last week, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission warned employers that their DEI policies may be illegal. Trump's executive order on DEI has prompted a flurry of companies to ditch or scale back their diversity programmes, including Meta, Amazon and Walmart. Some British firms have started to follow suit on watering down diversity plans including GSK and BT, which have pulled DEI measures from executive bonuses. Sensodyne-maker Haleon last week said it would axe diversity targets from its executive bonus scheme, with its chief executive and chief financial officer no longer required to hit gender representation targets to maximise their pay. Last week, Tim Martin, the boss of JD Wetherspoon, said diversity schemes have become 'politicised and weaponised' and called for common sense on the topic. The changes at Ocado follow concerns over years of losses at the technology company. In February, Ocado revealed it racked up a pre-tax loss of £375m for its latest financial year, compared to a £393.6m loss a year earlier. The company said it would make further job cuts as part of a drive to reduce costs and make the business said the number of redundancies would be 'significantly' less than the 1,000 job cuts it made last year. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sign in to access your portfolio
Telegraph
23-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Ocado waters down ethnic minority targets as bosses go cold on DEI
Ocado has watered down targets to get more ethnic minority people into senior roles amid a wider rollback of diversity initiatives within corporate Britain. The London-listed technology company, which jointly owns online grocer Ocado Retail with M&S, said its goal of having 10pc of senior management roles made up of people from ethnic minorities had been pushed back to 2030 from its previous target of 2027. It comes as a growing wave of companies rein in so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies following a crackdown by Donald Trump in the US. The US president has banned DEI programmes at federal agencies and ended government contracts with 'woke companies' that continue to adopt these policies. Ocado has been increasing its workforce in the US after securing a deal with the supermarket Kroger to supply it with the technology which powers its robotic delivery warehouses. Ocado insisted it remained committed to DEI and said the target had been delayed because its 'strong rate of retention among senior managers' meant it was unlikely to hit the 10pc goal before then. At the end of its latest financial year, the level stood at 5.6pc of senior management, up from 4.5pc the prior year. A spokesman said: 'It does not reflect any change in our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and we are making good progress across our other goals in these areas which extend across the business and our pipeline of talent. 'We strongly believe that diversity is a key driver of innovation and these targets are important for us to maintain our position as one of the UK's most innovative technology businesses.' Last week, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission warned employers that their DEI policies may be illegal. Trump's executive order on DEI has prompted a flurry of companies to ditch or scale back their diversity programmes, including Meta, Amazon and Walmart. Some British firms have started to follow suit on watering down diversity plans including GSK and BT, which have pulled DEI measures from executive bonuses. Sensodyne-maker Haleon last week said it would axe diversity targets from its executive bonus scheme, with its chief executive and chief financial officer no longer required to hit gender representation targets to maximise their pay. Last week, Tim Martin, the boss of JD Wetherspoon, said diversity schemes have become 'politicised and weaponised' and called for common sense on the topic. The changes at Ocado follow concerns over years of losses at the technology company. In February, Ocado revealed it racked up a pre-tax loss of £375m for its latest financial year, compared to a £393.6m loss a year earlier. The company said it would make further job cuts as part of a drive to reduce costs and make the business profitable. Ocado said the number of redundancies would be 'significantly' less than the 1,000 job cuts it made last year.
Telegraph
21-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Sensodyne-maker axes diversity targets from bonuses
Haleon is to axe diversity targets from its executive bonus scheme in the latest sign that UK businesses are rowing back on DEI. The Sensodyne-maker has confirmed that its chief executive and chief financial officer will no longer have to meet gender representation targets to maximise their pay. The diversity targets had formed part of the company's share scheme, which accounts for a significant portion of executive remuneration. Last year, Brian McNamara, the company's chief executive, secured share payouts worth £6m, taking his total pay package for the year to £9m. Under the 2022-2024 share plan, executives were set targets for women to hold at least 44.5pc of leadership roles, which the company subsequently met. However, Haleon – which was split out from GSK in 2022 – has now removed the gender diversity target for the coming year to 'ensure continued compliance with requirements in countries in which we operate'. It follows a pushback from the US government over corporate diversity initiatives, spearheaded by Donald Trump since coming to power in January. The move comes just weeks after GSK, which counts the US government as one of its largest customers, also revealed it was watering down diversity targets for its executive bonus scheme. The London-listed drugmaker said it was putting diversity activities on pause to review them, adding: 'We have to ensure we remain compliant with the law in the countries in which we operate, including the US. We are consulting and talking to our people about all of this.' Mr Trump has sought to ban federal agencies and contractors from setting diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) targets, while he has also signed into law new rules that require companies to scrap targets. This shift has already filtered through to the UK, with a recent poll of 500 City executives showing that one in three bosses now believe DEI has gone too far. Figures compiled for The Telegraph by job site Adzuna last month revealed that hiring for DEI roles has fallen by a third since last year.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Siemens Set to Raise €1.4 Billion in Healthineers Stake Sale
(Bloomberg) -- Siemens AG is likely to raise about €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) from the sale of a roughly 2.3% stake in Siemens Healthineers AG, the medical technology unit it listed in 2018, after increasing the size of the deal. Trump to Halt NY Congestion Pricing by Terminating Approval Sorry, Kids: Disney's New York Headquarters Is for Grown-Ups Why Barcelona Bought the Building That Symbolizes Its Housing Crisis Child Migrant Watchdog Gutted in DOGE Cuts Por qué Barcelona compró el edificio que simboliza su crisis inmobiliaria The German group increased the number of Healthineers shares offered to around 26.5 million from 22 million, and was expected to price them at €54.65 each, according to terms seen by Bloomberg. Demand exceeded the shares available by several times, the terms show. The price would represent a discount of about 2.9% from the close on Wednesday of €56.28 each, according to Bloomberg calculations. The sale comes after Siemens said last year it could sell shares in Siemens Healthineers to pay for its $10.6 billion acquisition of Altair Engineering Inc. The proceeds will go to fund general corporate purposes, according to the release. Siemens has also said it plans to sell a €2.5 billion stake in Siemens Energy AG to fund the Altair deal. Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas SA and Morgan Stanley are arranging the deal, according to the terms. Investors have raised $6.3 billion in Europe this year through overnight placings, with corporate shareholders leading the charge, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Pfizer Inc. sold a $3.1 billion stake in Sensodyne-maker Haleon Plc last month, just a day after Reinet Investments SCA exited its $1.5 billion stake in British American Tobacco Plc. --With assistance from Wilfried Eckl-Dorna and Bre Bradham. (Updates with price guidance, number of shares in first three paragraphs.) How Med Spas Conquered America Before DeepSeek Blew Up, Chatbot Arena Announced Its Arrival The Startup That Stepped In When the Baby Formula Supply Chain Broke The Undocumented Workers Who Helped Build Elon Musk's Texas Gigafactory The Unicorn Boom Is Over, and Startups Are Getting Desperate ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
