Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Rayfield Allied is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and to ensure access to our industry for people from all backgrounds.

We acknowledge that access to working in the classical music and culture sector, both for creatives and performers, and behind the scenes and on the administrative and managerial side, is vastly different for people of a variety of backgrounds, and that this needs to change.

We believe that it makes the whole of the arts/culture sector stronger when voices from all walks of life are heard, whether that is within our team, the artists we represent or the external companies with which we actively engage.

We commit to actively engage with groups that are currently underrepresented on our staff and our roster as well as in the wider industry, and to help amplify their voices. This will be a significant factor in the development of our roster and promoters we engage with, as well as in the recruitment and development of new staff.

We commit to treating people from all backgrounds equally and with respect, regardless of their race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, belief, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, health or other status or diverse backgrounds. We do not tolerate any form of abuse and will especially stand up to any form of discriminatory language or behaviour against minority groups.

We were proud and grateful to be invited to be among the first arts organisations to go through Music Masters’ “I’M IN” Diversity and Inclusion audit and subsequent sessions in 2020/21 and are committed to engaging with this topic on an ongoing basis, in regular internal and external conversations and training.

What we have done

• Having taken part in Music Masters’ Diversity and Inclusion audit, we arranged a follow up consultation and received a list of recommendations.
• We have set up a Diversity and Inclusion taskforce within the company, which meets regularly.
• We have created a Diversity and Inclusion policy, and are making a shortened version of this accessible on our website.
• We have updated our employment contracts and management agreements to reflect our Diversity and Inclusion policy and requiring all existing and future staff and artists to actively commit to it.
• We restructured our recruitment process and underwent further training. We partnered with Creative Access and advertised in more places to broaden the range of applications we received, which had been limited in the past. We selected and saw applicants blind to challenge our existing bias.

What we are doing in the next year

• We will collect Diversity and Inclusion data on both clients and staff via anonymous questionnaire so we can assess our current situation and be able to measure what impact our actions have both mid- and long term.
• We will form an Advisory Board, which will help us to include a more diverse range of perspectives in determining our strategic policies and which will meet four times per year.
• We will investigate in what form we can offer an internship to somebody from an under-represented protected characteristic and engage with Creative Access on creating such opportunities.